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Verlander sharp as Tigers cruise past Mariners

May 21, 2008 - 3:39 AM DETROIT (Ticker) -- Justin Verlander finally received more than enough support.

Verlander pitched six excellent innings as the Detroit Tigers posted a 12-8 victory over the Seattle Mariners on Tuesday.

Edgar Renteria went 4-for-4 with five RBI and Detroit hit four homers after having lost six of its previous seven entering this three-game series.

"Right now, wins are golden," Tigers manager Jim Leyland said. "We'll take 'em any way we can get 'em."

It was the fourth time the Tigers had scored 10-plus runs this season and marked just the second time they had produced more than four runs in any of Verlander's 10 starts.

"I thought we had a good night at the plate," Leyland said of his team's 17 hits. "We were aggressive and when we got pitches, we didn't miss 'em."

The 2006 American League Rookie of the Year, Verlander (2-7) yielded a run, four hits and a walk while striking out seven to snap a personal four-game losing streak.

"I thought, for the most part, Justin was really good," Leyland said. "He scuffled a couple of times, but that was it."

The righthander, who threw 65 of his 104 pitches for strikes, served up a solo homer to Adrian Beltre in the first before his teammates started putting runs on the board.

"It was my best start," Verlander said. "I would have liked to have my pitch count lower, but that was only because of a couple of hitters."

Carlos Guillen and Renteria had RBI singles in the second inning to give Detroit a 2-1 lead.

With the the bases loaded and one out in the fourth, Renteria hammered a triple into the left-center field gap to make it 5-1.

"We had a great feeling from the first time we came out on the field, everybody was ready to play," Renteria said.

Later in the frame, Curtis Granderson and Placido Polanco added an RBI double and run-scoring hit, respectively, to up the lead to 7-1.

All seven runs were charged to Seattle starter Carlos Silva (3-3), who surrendered nine hits and a walk in four innings.

"Silva wasn't himself out there tonight," Mariners manager John McLaren said. "He always keeps us in games. But he just didn't have any location on his pitches."

"The Tigers have a very good lineup from one to nine," Silva said. "You make one mistake and they make you pay."

Detroit increased its lead on a solo homer by Magglio Ordonez in the fifth before Renteria led off the sixth with his fourth homer of the season to give the Tigers a 9-1 advantage. It was Renteria's second five-RBI game of the season.

Two batters later, Granderson belted a two-run shot off Mariners reliever Cha Seung Baek to put Detroit up by double digits.

With the Tigers leading, 11-3, in the eighth, Guillen drilled a solo homer over the center field wall to end the scoring for Detroit.

The Mariners scored seven runs off three Tigers relievers in the final three frames before closer Todd Jones came on with one out in the ninth, inducing Miguel Cairo to hit into a game-ending double play with runners on first and second to earn his seventh save.