Justin Verlander

Justin Verlander surrendered a home run to Ben Verlander in a minor-league game Thursday afternoon.

(AP file photo)

LAKELAND, Fla. -- Detroit Tigers pitcher Justin Verlander said he has told Ben Verlander his entire life that if they ever faced each other he would hit him with a pitch.

Instead Justin Verlander threw a fastball down the middle. And his little brother hit it over the wall.

Ben Verlander hit a home run off Justin Verlander on Thursday in the first inning of a minor-league game on one of the back fields at the spring training facility.

Ben Verlander

"One epic swing for him," Justin Verlander said. "I'm sure I'm going to be hearing about it. I might be glad I'm getting out of town."

Ben Verlander didn't stick around. He swung at the first pitch from his brother -- a 92-mph fastball down the middle -- and smacked it for a solo home run. After he rounded the bases, he immediately cut through the bench area to another field to participate in the game he was supposed to be playing in.

When he saw his brother step into the box, Justin Verlander thought about having some fun with him but decided to play it straight.

"I've told him my whole life I'm going to hit him," he said. "I thought about throwing one behind his back, but I decided to throw one right down the middle instead. I'm sure he'll enjoy that for a long time."

It was the final spring tuneup for Verlander before he pitches Tuesday in the season opener in Miami against the Marlins. Verlander pitched very well early in spring training but struggled a bit down the stretch. He finished Grapefruit League play with a 2-0 ERA, a 2.84 ERA and a 1.05 WHIP, but his line in his two starts prior to Thursday: 10IP, 13H, 6R, 6ER, 1BB, 4SO.

Verlander gave himself mixed reviews for his outing Thursday. He threw 77 pitches, 50 for strikes, in five innings.

"Not much adrenaline," Verlander said of pitching in a minor-league game. "It felt OK, but it probably wasn't coming out as good as it could have. ... My instinct with those guys was to throw them tons of off-speed, because all they were putting decent swings on were fastballs. They were just jumping the heater. But I wanted to continue to pitch."

Justin Verlander said the at-bat by Ben Verlander was a good example of hitters sitting on the fastball.

"When he comes up there, I know exactly what he's doing," he said. "If I were pitching in a normal situation, I would probably throw a heater down and away right here."

Then Verlander paused and admitted that he hadn't intentionally thrown his brother "a cookie," which is how he referred to the pitch a minute or two earlier.

"I wasn't really trying to go down the middle," he said.

-- Download the Detroit Tigers on MLive app for iPhone and Android.

-- Follow MLive Sports on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.