Verlander Whiffs 10 Through Eight As Tigers Top M's
DETROIT -- Alex Avila hit two triples and Justin Verlander pitched eight strong innings as the Detroit Tigers beat the Seattle Mariners 4-1 on Thursday night.
Verlander (7-3) struck out a season-best 10 while allowing one run on five hits. He is 5-0 in his last seven starts with a 2.14 ERA, and received a standing ovation from the crowd of 22,090 while returning to the dugout after the eighth.
Jose Valverde pitched the ninth for his 16th save in as many tries.
Doug Fister (3-7) dropped to 1-4 since May 1, giving up four runs on seven hits and two walks in his eight innings. He is 1-12 in 19 career starts against the AL Central.
After the Tigers stranded runners on third with fewer than two outs in both the third and fourth innings, the Mariners went ahead in the fifth.
Greg Halman singled, stole second, moved to third on a flyball and scored on a wild pitch.
Detroit, though, came back with four in the bottom of the inning. Jhonny Peralta singled and scored on Avila's second triple of the game. With two outs, Don Kelly's single gave the Tigers a 2-1 lead, and Brennan Boesch followed with his eighth homer of the season.
Notes
The game took 2:17 and ended at 9:23 p.m., just 16 minutes after sunset. ... Avila became just the third Tigers catcher to triple twice in a game since 1919, joining Brad Ausmus (1999) and Lance Parrish (1980). No major league catcher has hit three triples in a game in that span. ... Ryan Raburn went 0-3 for Detroit, and is hitting .216 since Tigers manager Jim Leyland said he was giving him a "new season" by moving him to second base in late May. ... Seattle's starting rotation came in with the second-worst run support in the majors, leading only San Diego, and Fister only got one run in his eight innings. ... Seattle's Miguel Olivo went 0 for 4 in the cleanup spot, striking out all four times.
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