You’re starting to run out of things to say about the Detroit Tigers and Justin Verlander for that matter during this amazing run the team is having at this point.
Tuesday night, the Tigers powered by ace Justin Verlander got their 11th straight win of the season when they shut out the Chicago White Sox 5-0 from U.S. Cellular Field. On top of all of that Verlander also netted his 23rd victory of the season which hasn’t been done by a Tigers pitcher since Joe Coleman did it in 1973 when he went 23-15.
The Tigers also managed to win their 11th straight victory, something that hasn’t been done by the organization since 1968. The last time the team won more than 11 consecutive games was way back in 1934.
The teams numbers continue to become more and more remarkable. They’ve now won 21 of their past 25 games and now lead Chicago and Cleveland in their division by 12.5 games which is the largest margin between first and second place teams in the majors. With that said the Tigers have reduced their magic number in the AL Central to 4 games.
Verlander also wasn’t affected by any sort of Sports Illustrated cover jinx. Tuesday, the publication released their cover featuring Verlander and the letters MVP. Verlander certainly possesses MVP type numbers and he only added to it tonight by going seven innings allowing zeros runs on six hits while walking two and striking out six. Not his best stuff (which is truly stunning to say) yet he has been extremely consistent throughout the season. So much so it’s scary for opposing teams.
White Sox starter Gavin Floyd (12-11) allowed four runs on four hits and four walks in 5 1/3 innings. He struck out two.
| Detroit | AB | R | H | RBI | BB | SO | LOB | AVG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jackson, A, CF | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | .252 |
| Rhymes, 2B | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .218 |
| Santiago, 2B | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .269 |
| Young, D, LF | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | .278 |
| Cabrera, Mi, 1B | 3 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 2 | .332 |
| Martinez, V, DH | 4 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 3 | .324 |
| Avila, C | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | .300 |
| Peralta, Jh, SS | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | .306 |
| Betemit, 3B | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 4 | .282 |
| Inge, 3B | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .203 |
| Dirks, RF | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | .255 |
| a-Raburn, PH-RF | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | .244 |
| Totals | 34 | 5 | 7 | 5 | 5 | 7 | 19 | .275 |
a-Popped out for Dirks in the 6th.
| Chi White Sox | AB | R | H | RBI | BB | SO | LOB | AVG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pierre, LF | 5 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .286 |
| Ramirez, Al, SS | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | .262 |
| Pierzynski, DH | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | .283 |
| Viciedo, 1B | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | .333 |
| Rios, CF | 4 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .224 |
| De Aza, RF | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 2 | .307 |
| Flowers, C | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 4 | .209 |
| Morel, 3B | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | .257 |
| Beckham, 2B | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 6 | .228 |
| Totals | 33 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 4 | 8 | 16 | .253 |
2B: Cabrera, Mi 2 (42, Floyd, Frasor), Rhymes (3, Floyd).
HR: Martinez, V (11, 6th inning off Floyd, 2 on, 1 out).
TB: Rhymes 2; Santiago; Cabrera, Mi 4; Martinez, V 4; Peralta, Jh; Raburn.
RBI: Avila (75), Martinez, V 3 (94), Cabrera, Mi (97).
2-out RBI: Cabrera, Mi.
Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Dirks; Jackson, A; Raburn; Martinez, V; Cabrera, Mi.
Team RISP: 1-for-11.
Team LOB: 8.BASERUNNING
SB: Dirks (5, 2nd base off Floyd/Flowers).FIELDING
DP: (Betemit-Rhymes-Cabrera, Mi).
2B: Morel (16, Verlander).
TB: Pierre; Pierzynski; Rios 3; Flowers; Morel 2.
Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Beckham 3; Pierre; Flowers 2.
GIDP: Viciedo.
Team RISP: 0-for-6.
Team LOB: 10.
WP: Floyd.
IBB: Cabrera, Mi (by Floyd).
HBP: Dirks (by Floyd).
Pitches-strikes: Verlander 106-71, Benoit 27-16, Valverde 14-8, Floyd 98-55, Thornton 11-9, Frasor 34-24, Reed 23-14.
Groundouts-flyouts: Verlander 6-3, Benoit 1-0, Valverde 2-1, Floyd 4-8, Thornton 0-0, Frasor 2-0, Reed 1-0.
Batters faced: Verlander 28, Benoit 6, Valverde 3, Floyd 25, Thornton 4, Frasor 6, Reed 5.
Inherited runners-scored: Thornton 2-0, Frasor 1-1.
Umpires: HP: Mike Everitt. 1B: Mike Winters. 2B: Chris Guccione. 3B: Mark Wegner.
Weather: 66 degrees, partly cloudy.
Wind: 6 mph, In from LF.
T: 3:23.
Att: 25,015.
Source: MLB.com, Mlive.com