Justin Verlander and Ryan Raburn gave the Detroit Tigers at least one more game. Verlander, a former Goochland and Old Dominion star, improved his record to 19-9, and Detroit edged visiting Chicago 5-3.

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.

CLEVELAND—Justin Verlander pitched the Detroit Tigers closer to a division title—but it was his teammate who sealed the deal. The Goochland native watched from the dugout as VCU star Brandon Inge made a diving catch in the ninth inning to protect a 6-5 victory against the Cleveland Indians last night. Verlander struck out 11 in seven innings and Carlos Guillen had three hits and an RBI as the Tigers handed Cleveland its 11th straight loss. The Indians are within one loss of matching a franchise record for futility.

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.

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.

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 - For 15 minutes last night, the Baltimore Orioles made Justin Verlander look like one of baseball’s worst pitchers. It didn’t last. The Detroit ace allowed five runs before getting his second out but didn’t give up another in his eight innings, allowing the Tigers to rally for a 6-5 victory. “This is one of my favorite starts of my career,“ said the former standout at Goochland High and Old Dominion. “In the past, I would have fallen apart - when I struggled in the first, I would never make it out of the fourth. Tonight, I went eight and kept us in the game.“

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.

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.

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.

Former Goochland High School star Justin Verlander can expect a nice reward today for an outstanding first half: a berth in the All-Star Game. Verlander is 8-4 with a 3.54 ERA and an American League-leading 130 strikeouts for the Detroit Tigers, who lead the AL Central by 2½ games. Verlander, rebounding from a mediocre 2008, is in line for his second appearance in the Midsummer Classic. He allowed one run on two hits in one inning in the 2007 game, won 5-4 by the AL in San Francisco.

DETROIT—Any thoughts of a repeat no-hitter for Justin Verlander left the park along with that first-inning homer he gave up. Settling for another win against Milwaukee would have to do. In his second start against the Brewers, and with the same plate umpire as in his no-hitter, Verlander (Goochland High, Old Dominion) pitched into the eighth and Brandon Inge (VCU), hit a three-run homer to lead the Tigers to a 3-2 win over Milwaukee.

CHICAGO - Former Goochland standout Justin Verlander pitched a six-hitter for his first victory at U.S. Cellular Field as the Detroit Tigers defeated the Chicago White Sox 2-1 last night. Verlander (7-2) struck out nine and walked one in his second complete game this year. He has a 7-0 record and league-low 1.10 ERA since April 27. The seven-decision winning streak matched his career best of 2006, when he helped Detroit reach the World Series.