Justin Verlander struck out 8 and allowed 1 run in 7 innings pitched to win his Major League leading 19th game. That ties his career high previously set 2 years ago. He also became just the third pitcher in the last 15 years to strike out 7 and go at least 7 innings for 7 straight starts. The others, Pedro Martinez who did it on 4 occasions, and Randy Johnston. Obviously the two dominant power pitchers of their era in their prime. Verlander is obviously moving into that elite level, finally crossing beyond the "very good" he's been at for the last couple years to ascend to the level of "great".
Detroit added some late offense to boost a 2-1 lead. Jhonny Peralta had a 2-run 2-out single in the 8th. Don Kelly hit his 4th homer of the season leading off the 9th. Alex Avila hit a 2-run homer, his 15th of the season, to stake Detroit to the lead. Avila is earning his stud stripes. How's now caught 16 straight games since Victor Martinez has been nursing a sore knee and has been relegated to the DH role. Avila has 5 home runs and is hitting around .420 in that stretch. Certainly not wilting under the workload. Jim Leyland said tonight that Brandon Inge will be the emergency catcher if the need arises.
Jose Valverde gave up an Evan Longoria home run to lead off the 9th and brought the tying run to the plate with 2 outs, but ended the game in a non-save situation.
Seattle beat Cleveland 3-2. 4 straight wins for Detroit. 4 straight losses for Cleveland. Detroit suddenly has a 5 and a half game lead in the Central.
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