If you were wondering why Justin Verlander — the scheduled starter for Saturday’s game before it got changed into a day/night doubleheader because of Friday’s rainout — pitched in the nightcap instead, the answer is simple. He didn’t care. 


“This is why Justin Verlander is who he is. This is why he’s grown up in so many ways. I gave him the option. And he said ‘Whatever you want, Skip.’ I asked my pitching coach, and he said ‘I like the night game,’ and I said ‘That’s good enough for me.’ So we pitched him in the night game,” Leyland said. 
 “We had a doubleheader, and to Justin’s credit, he probably could’ve pulled rank and said ‘Well, I’d rather have the day game.’ If he’d have said that, I’d have given him the day game. 
But to his credit, to show you what a teammate he is, he said, ‘Whatever you want, Skip.’ ” 


Then again, the truth is, the time didn’t really matter to Leyland either. 


“I’d feel good startin’ him at 4 o’clock in the morning,” the manager quipped.