Justin Verlander makes teary farewell to 21-year career as Tigers rally to beat Pirates 4-3

DETROIT — Justin Verlander made a teary farewell, accompanied by his 7-year-old daughter as he left a major league mound for the final time in the Detroit Tigers’ 4-3 come-from-behind win over the Pittsburgh Pirates on Saturday.

>Eduardo Valencia hit a game-ending, two-run homer off Mason Montgomery (6-4) in a three-run ninth that included Kevin McGonigle’s RBI groundout.

>Verlander allowed two runs and five hits in 5 1/3 innings with one walk and six strikeouts in his 91-pitch outing. The 43-year-old right-hander was making his second start of the year and first since March 30 in a season derailed by a sore hip and hamstring injury.

>After Brandon Lowe hit a foul popup starting the sixth, Tigers manager A.J. Hinch walked from the dugout toward the plate and pointed toward the seats. Genevieve Verlander, wearing a Tigers jersey with her dad’s name and number, sprinted to the mound and hugged her father, who reached down to embrace her and started shaking and sobbing.

>Verlander finished 266-159 in 557 starts with a 3.33 ERA and 3,560 strikeouts, eighth on the career list.

>Pittsburgh took a 2-0 lead on solo homers by Brandon Lowe in the fourth and Nick Gonzales.

>Javier Báez hit an RBI double in the sixth, and Bryan Reynolds extended Pittsburgh’s lead to 3-1 with a run-scoring triple in the eighth.

>Jacob Waguespack (2-2) pitched 1 1/3 scoreless innings.

>Pittsburgh (81-80) needs one win for its first winning season since 2018.

>The Pirates’ Kirby Yates made his first career start after 517 relief appearances. The 39-year-old right-hander allowed two hits over 1 2/3 innings in what he said might be his final game.

>Pirates center fielder Oneil Cruz left in the third inning. He fell awkwardly while trying to field McGonigle’s bloop single in the first.