Justin Verlander kept the Detroit Tigers on top in the AL Central, pitching eight innings in a 6-5 victory over the Minnesota Twins last night that salvaged a split of their key doubleheader. Detroit increased its division lead to two over Minnesota, which won the day game 3-2 in 10 innings, with two games left in the series and five to go in the regular season.

Not only did the Detroit Lions feast upon the Washington Redskins on Sunday, but the Tigers sit atop the American League’s Central Division. The Tigers’ run for the pennant prompted Sports Illustrated to credit the team with lifting a sagging city’s spirits. Humans cannot live without clichés. Winning teams make fans feel better; they sometimes boost community morale. The glory years of the Steel Curtain, for instance, lent Pittsburgh a modicum of relief from decades of industrial decline. The football Steelers proved no substitute for jobs in mills, however; despite four Super Bowls in six years, Pittsburgh’s slide persisted. The Steelers have won two more Super Bowls since, yet despite pockets that appeal to observers such as ourselves the golden age has passed and will not return.

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla.—Justin Verlander picked up his 16th win of the season, Adam Everett hit a tiebreaking RBI single during a three-run ninth and the AL Central-leading Detroit Tigers beat the Tampa Bay Rays 4-3 last night. Verlander (16-7) tied New York Yankees left-hander CC Sabathia for the AL lead in victories after allowing one run and four hits over eight innings. The former Goochland High School and Old Dominion University standout has won three consecutive starts.

ANN ARBOR, Mich.—Detroit Tigers all-star Brandon Inge has dedicated two recent homers to pediatric patients he knows at Mott Children’s Hospital. And now, they’re making requests. “Can you try to hit a home run?“ 11-year-old Jonelle Bailey asked Inge yesterday afternoon from her hospital bed during his latest visit. “I’ll try,“ Inge said, looking back with a smile.

DETROIT—Former Goochland and Old Dominion star Justin Verlander is starting to sense the Detroit Tigers have the intangibles that helped them reach the World Series a few years ago. Placido Polanco hit a three-run homer with two outs in the eighth inning, lifting Detroit to a 4-3 win over the Tampa Bay Rays yesterday. Third baseman Brandon Inge, a former VCU standout, sealed the victory, leaping to snag B.J. Upton’s high hopper down the line with a runner on first and throwing across the diamond for the final out.

BALTIMORE - The Detroit Tigers bolstered their offense for a pennant drive by obtaining first baseman Aubrey Huff from the Baltimore Orioles yesterday for a minor leaguer. “I’ve been in last place basically my whole career, so this is an exciting time for me,“ Huff said. “I’m looking forward to it.“ The Tigers began yesterday leading the Chicago White Sox by 2½ games in the AL Central. The last-place Orioles obtained pitcher Brett Jacobson from Detroit and assigned the right-hander to Class A Frederick.

DETROIT - Brandon Inge went into last night’s game hitting just .188 since his first All-Star Game. His average didn’t get much better, but his psyche did. With one out in the ninth inning, the former Virginia Commonwealth star hit a 2-1 pitch from Roman Colon (1-2) into the bullpen in left field to give the Detroit Tigers a 1-0 victory over Kansas City.

BOSTON—Justin Verlander knew it was his last batter, and it was a dangerous one. So the Tigers right-hander reached back for a pair of 100 mph fastballs that blew by Jason Bay and essentially clinched Detroit’s 2-0 victory over the Boston Red Sox yesterday. “That’s a horse,“ Tigers manager Jim Leylandsaid, after the AL Central-leading Tigers avoided a four-game sweep and beat the Red Sox for the first time in seven tries this season. “That’s a brilliant performance. The eighth inning was textbook, No. 1-type pitching. To do what he did in that inning, at that point in the ballgame, there’s not many guys who can do that.“

DETROIT - The Minnesota Twins got just what they needed from Carl Pavano and the usual from Denard Span and Joe Mauer. It meant a long night for Detroit Tigers ace Justin Verlander. Pavano allowed only five hits over seven innings in his Minnesota debut, Span went 5 for 5, and Mauer homered and drove in three runs to lift the Twins to a 11-0 win over the Detroit Tigers last night.

Detroit ace Justin Verlander allowed six hits en route to the sixth complete game of his major-league career. DETROIT—Justin Verlander had several reasons to finish the first game of yesterday’s doubleheader against the Chicago White Sox. Pride was the biggest one. The Tigers’ ace squirmed out of a bases-loaded, no-out jam in the ninth inning to finish off Detroit’s 5-1 win, the sixth complete game of his career.

The great midseason bazaar known as baseball’s trade deadline is near. Between now and July 31, rumors will fly concerning teams on the prowl for the missing ingredient - Philadelphia, San Francisco, St. Louis, Boston, the New York Yankees - to make the playoffs and teams seeking an infusion of promising young players - Toronto, Pittsburgh, Washington - to build for the future.

NEW YORK - Justin Verlander followed the trajectory of the ball and watched helplessly as Alex Rodriguez’s opposite-field fly settled softly into the second row of right-field seats. All of a sudden, after six dominant innings, Verlander was losing. Welcome to the new Yankee Stadium. CC Sabathia beat Verlander in a prime pitching matchup, and Rodriguez’s pop-fly homer sent the New York Yankees to a 2-1 victory over the Detroit Tigers yesterday.

New York Yankees first baseman Mark Teixeira follows the flight of his game-winning homer, a three-run shot in the seventh inning. NEW YORK - Mark Teixeira bailed out a shaky A.J. Burnett with a go-ahead, three-run homer off Joel Zumaya, and the New York Yankees opened the second half with a 5-3 victory over the Detroit Tigers last night.

DETROIT—All-star Brandon Inge said he wasn’t sure how to prepare for tonight’s Home Run Derby, but the Cleveland Indians gave him a good chance to warm up. Inge, a former VCU standout, homered twice yesterday to give him 21 on the season, and the Detroit Tigers rode a strong pitching performance from ex-Goochland High standout Justin Verlander to rout the Indians 10-1.

DETROIT - Former Goochland High School standout Justin Verlander struck out 11 in six innings to earn his ninth victory, and Marcus Thames hit a three-run homer as the Detroit Tigers beat the Kansas City Royals 8-5 last night. Verlander (9-4), in his first start since being named to his second all-star team, ran his American League-best strikeout total to 141, the most by a Detroit pitcher before the All-Star Game in 37 years. He gave up five runs and seven hits.