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Tigers continue set in Minnesota

Jul 22, 2011 - 2:57 PM (Sports Network) - A vintage performance from Justin Verlander helped put the Detroit Tigers back in first place. Now it's Max Scherzer's job to keep them there.

Detroit tries to secure a little more breathing room atop the American League Central tonight with an 11th straight victory over the Minnesota Twins in the second contest of a four-game set at Target Field.

Verlander picked up his 13th victory of the season in last night's opener, holding the Twins to a run over eight innings while striking out nine. He threw 83 of his 126 pitches for strikes as the Tigers rolled to a 6-2 victory.

Detroit has now won all six of its meetings this season with Minnesota and the current 10-game series winning streak is its longest ever over the franchise, surpassing a nine-game run versus the Washington Senators back on July 27, 1949-May 6, 1950.

Verlander gave up four earned runs in a loss to the White Sox last Friday, but returned to form last night.

"He had his good stuff," Twins manager Ron Gardenhire admitted. "He had command of three pitches. He pretty much shut us down. The times we had a couple of opportunities he did what strikeout guys do and he made pitches and pumped up the volume and shut us down."

Jhonny Peralta had three hits, including a homer, and knocked in three runs for the Tigers, who won for the third time in four contests and moved into sole possession of first place in the AL Central, a half-game ahead of Cleveland. Brennan Boesch added a two-run homer.

Michael Cuddyer drove in a run for the Twins, who are 14-7 since a six-game slide from June 22-27 but still fell six games back of the Tigers in the division race.

Carl Pavano struggled in taking a loss, surrendering nine hits and five runs over six innings.

"Pavano's a really good pitcher," Boesch said. "I just had to battle all game and got a pitch to hit, and didn't miss it."

Scherzer will look to bounce back from a tough-luck defeat last time out when he toes the rubber for the Tigers.

Scherzer lost for the third time in four decisions over five starts on Saturday, even though he allowed two runs or less for the third time in that span. The right-hander held the White Sox to a pair of runs on eight hits over eight innings, striking out six in a 5-0 defeat.

He fell to 10-5 with a 4.53 earned run average on the season and brings a 5.87 ERA in eight road appearances into this contest.

Scherzer, who will turn 27 on Wednesday, is 0-1 with a 9.13 ERA in four career starts versus the Twins. That includes a no-decision on June 6 at home, where he was tagged for seven runs over 6 2/3 innings. Minnesota's Justin Morneau took him deep twice in the game.

Hoping to pick up a fourth straight winning decision for the Twins is Brian Duensing, who held the Royals to three runs on seven hits over 6 1/3 innings of a victory on Sunday. The southpaw has yielded more than three runs just once in his past eight appearances, going 5-2 in that span.

Duensing is 7-7 with a 4.14 ERA in 19 games this year and that includes a rough outing at Detroit on May 31. The 28-year-old was charged with six runs over 4 2/3 innings, getting a no-decision in his club's 8-7 loss.

He fell to 1-2 with a 3.94 ERA in 14 lifetime appearances versus the Tigers, including five starts. Duensing has struggled this year against Victor Martinez, with the Detroit designated hitter collecting three doubles and a pair of RBI in four at-bats.

The Twins could have Jason Kubel back in the lineup tonight after activating off the disabled list following last night's loss. Kubel has been out since late May with a sprained left foot.