With a big assist from his shortstop, Verlander pitched the first no-hitter in Comerica Park history, leading hosts Detroit Tigers over the Milwaukee Brewers 4-0 in an interleague match.

"It was the best thing that ever happened to me," he said.

The 2006 AL Rookie of the Year pitched the game of his career, striking out 12. He benefited from several stellar defensive plays, the best by Neifi Perez, who turned a possible single up the middle in the eighth into an inning- ending double play.

"About the fifth or sixth you can't help but think about it a little," Verlander said. "Everyone kept giving me high-fives and nobody came and sat next to me."

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The National League Central- leading Brewers did not have a chance against him.

"We only hit four or five balls hard all night ... that's how dominant he was," said Craig Counsell, twice called out on strikes.

Verlander (7-2) worked around four walks in the Tigers' first no-hitter since Jack Morris in 1984.

The 24-year-old trotted to the mound for the ninth to a standing ovation from the crowd of 33,555.

"I had way too much adrenaline, to be honest," Verlander said.

Amped up, he struck out Counsell and Tony Graffanino. That brought up JJ Hardy, and Verlander had a momentary lapse, throwing a high breaking ball. Verlander then got Hardy to lift a high fly ball that right fielder Magglio Ordonez caught at the warning track.

Verlander did not even see the ball settle into Ordonez's glove.

"I wanted to watch the catch, but Pudge was yelling in my ear," he said.

Catcher Ivan Rodriguez was already at the mound and hugged Verlander as the pitcher wheeled around.

"I think I was more excited than he was," Rodriguez said.

It was the first no-hitter in Detroit since Nolan Ryan of the Angels did it at Tiger Stadium in 1973. Comerica opened in 2000.

"A lot of things go through your mind when something like this happens," Tigers manager Jim Leyland said. "I'm very happy for him, happy for the team, happy for the fans to see something special."

Verlander's girlfriend, Emily Yuen, also was on the field to celebrate his first no-hitter since he was 12 years old.

It was the second no-hitter of the season in the majors, with Mark Buehrle of the White Sox doing it against the Rangers on April 18.

Perez preserved this one with his glove. After Bill Hall walked for the third time, Gabe Gross hit a hard grounder up the middle. Perez skidded to his left to glove it, but the force of the ball knocked him over.

Perez managed to make a backhanded flip to second baseman Placido Polanco, who completed the inning- ending double play. Verlander pumped his fist and was one of the first to congratulate Perez in the dugout.

Verlander had all of his pitches working in his second career complete game and first of the season. He finished with 112 pitches in the no-hitter.

Brandon Inge homered and drove in two runs. Jeff Suppan (7-7) took the loss.

Elsewhere, Wang Chien-ming outpitched Brandon Webb in a marquee matchup of exceptional sinkerballers, and streaking Bobby Abreu hit an early three-run homer to help the New York Yankees win their seventh in a row, 4-1 over the Arizona Diamondbacks.

The Yankees (31-31) won for the 10th time in 12 tries, reaching .500 for the first time since they were 16-16 after beating Texas on May 9.

ASSOCIATED PRESS