Tigers stop Tribe behind Verlander

Associated Press

Cleveland

Justin Verlander gave Detroit exactly what it needed, becoming baseball’s first 17-game winner as the division-leading Tigers avoided being swept by Cleveland and opened a three-game lead in the AL Central with a 4-3 win over the second-place Indians on Thursday night.

Verlander (17-5) allowed three hits and struck out 10 in seven dominant innings to earn career win No. 100 as the Tigers ended a 13-game losing streak in Cleveland. He was also on the mound for Detroit’s previous win at Progressive Field on May 8, 2010.

In taking the series finale, the Tigers kept some distance over the Indians, who did trim one game off Detroit’s lead over the past three days. The teams will play 10 more times this season, including a season-ending three-game series at Comerica Park from Sept. 26-28.

Fausto Carmona (5-12) gave the Indians a solid outing, but they couldn’t do enough against Verlander, who was in control once again in what has been a Cy Young Award-caliber season.

Joaquin Benoit pitched a 1-2-3 eighth and flawless closer Jose Valverde worked the ninth for his 33rd consecutive save, breaking the single-season club record he shared with Guillermo Hernandez, who did it in 1984.

Carlos Santana homered for Cleveland.

After dropping the first two games of the series, the Tigers were counting on Verlander, their undisputed ace who has thrown one no-hitter and flirted with several others this season, to come through.

He delivered.

Relying mostly on his fastball and working both sides of the plate, Verlander had the Indians flailing at air. He also got a big assist from center fielder Austin Jackson, who made a sensational, leaping catch against the center-field wall in the sixth inning to preserve Detroit’s 4-3 lead.

With a runner on first and one out, Santana sent a drive to straightaway center. Jackson sprinted back, tracking the ball with each stride as neared the warning track. He stopped under the wall, jumped and snagged Santana’s deep shot that looked as if it would have stayed in the park. Verlander waved his glove in thanks to Jackson.

Verlander led 4-0 after the Tigers scored three times in the second. And with one of baseball’s best on the mound, that deficit must have felt like 40-0 to the Indians.

However, Santana hit a one-out homer, his 18th, in the bottom half to give Cleveland new life. Then, some uncharacteristic wildness by Verlander in the third helped the Indians close within one.