Justin Verlander did it again.
Another losing streak for the Detroit Tigers was averted thanks to their pitching ace, who tossed 7 1/3 innings in an 8-1 rout of Chicago.
Verlander (21-5) struck out six batters and gave up seven hits for Detroit, who lost yesterday to Kansas City. Verlander is now 15-3 in games after a Tigers loss.
White Sox starter John Danks (6-10) couldn’t make it past the fifth inning after giving up eight runs on nine hits.
Detroit got all the help they needed in the first inning. Delmon Young hit a booming triple to center field that scored Austin Jackson for the game’s first run. Miguel Cabrera and Alex Avila followed with RBI singles that staked Detroit to an early 3-0 lead.
The White Sox didn’t get to Verlander until the eighth when Tyler Flowers hit a solo home run to lead off the inning. Verlander would end up loading the bases in the frame, but Joaquin Benoit retired two consecutive batters to get out of the jam.
Daniel Schlereth worked around a one-out walk in the ninth to close the game. The Tigers’ lead over Chicago in the AL Central increased to 6 1/2 games.