The Tigers held off the Indians long enough to walk away with their fourth straight win as they finished a three game sweep over the Indians.  Justin Verlander looked sharp after a couple of mediocre starts and he improved to 17-9  He gave up two runs on seven hits and two walks with eleven strikeouts in seven innings.  The eleven punch outs give him 256 on the season and that’s the fifth best season total for a Tiger.  He’d have to get to 271 to pass Mickey Lolich at number four.  The top season is Mickey Lolich in 1971 when he struck out 308 (the only time a Tiger has struck out 300 or more).

The bullpen made this one interesting.  Bobby Seay came into the eighth, gave up back to back hits then a run before yielding to Brandon Lyon who pitched out the jam.  Fernando Rodney then came and gave up a two run home run in the ninth but he still picked up the save  because he had three runs to work with.

The Tigers big inning was the fourth when they scored four.  Four different Tigers drove in runs in the frame.  Carlos Guillen continued his hot hitting and he went three for three with a walk, a double, a run and an RBI.  Brandon Inge went two for five with a run and an RBI.

The Twins were off so the Tigers magic number is now down to eight.  Detroit kicks off a three game set in Chicago and it’ll be Eddie Bonine (???) going up against Jake Peavy in the opener.  The Twins go to Kansas City and it’d be nice if the Royals could help us out a little bit.

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