SEATTLE — It ended — and started — with a bunt.
That’s how Seattle Mariners outfielder Jarrod Dyson ended Justin Verlander’s perfect game in the sixth inning.
That’s how the Mariners’ comeback started.
That’s how weird baseball can be, how quickly it can change.
The Mariners beat the Detroit Tigers, 7-5, to get back to .500 (37-37) after winning their fourth straight game.
And they did it by going from lifeless and lost against Verlander to surging and clutch after Dyson’s bunt.
So first, the bunt.
When Dyson stepped to the plate with one out in the sixth inning, Verlander had faced the minimum: 16 batters up, 16 batters down. He had struck out 10 of those batters, and he looked dominant doing it.
There’s an old school thinking in some baseball circles that a player shouldn’t bunt to break up a no-hitter or perfect game, and that argument was already playing out on Twitter before Wednesday’s game had even ended.
But Dyson is a bunter; it’s part of his game, a tool he can call on.
And his team needed a base runner.
So Dyson bunted, and he didn’t lay down just a good bunt. He laid down a perfect bunt to break up the perfect game. That was very clearly the moment the game turned on its head.
Verlander walked Mike Zunino next. He gave up a single to Jean Segura to load the bases. Ben Gamel drove in Dyson with a single. Nelson Cruz drove in two more runs with a two-out double — the final batter Verlander faced.
Just like that, in the span of six batters, Verlander’s perfect game, no-hitter and night all ended.
The Mariners still had comeback work to do, however.
In the seventh inning, Mitch Haniger tied the game with a solo home run. After Segura and Gamel reached base, Robinson Cano drove them in with a double in the gap.
And Cruz delivered once more, this time a single to give the Mariners a 7-4 lead.
