http://www.mlive.com/tigers/index.ssf/2011/06/detroit_tigers_take_sole_posse.html DETROIT -- Detroit Tigers ace Justin Verlander flirted yet again with a no-hitter Tuesday before settling for a two-hit, 4-0 win over the Cleveland Indians which pushed his team into sole possession of first place in the American League Central for the first time this season. Verlander didn't allow a hit for 7 1/3 innings, before Orlando Cabrera's sharp single to center field broke up the bid. Cabrera flipped his bat en route to first base. By the time he got there, a Comerica Park crowd of 28,128 already had begun rising to its feet to applaud Verlander's performance. The complete game was the third by a Tigers pitcher this season, all by Verlander. Verlander already has two career no-hitters, including one May 7 at Toronto which started a sizzling streak in which the 28-year-old has won his last six decisions. During that stretch, Verlander -- who improved to 8-3 with a 2.66 ERA with the victory -- has allowed 13 runs in 63 2/3 innings, with nine walks and 54 strikeouts. Tuesday's 12-strikeout performance marked Verlander's eighth quality start in his last nine outings. He has pitched six-plus innings in all 15 starts this season. The Tigers, who spent the last three days in a virtual standings deadlock with the Indians – but trailing them, by a fraction of a percentage point – roared into a one-game lead just 22 days after trailing Cleveland by seven games. But Cleveland lost its penchant for timely hitting, just as the Tigers began to find themselves offensively and flex their showcase pitching rotation, and the resultant juxtaposition in the AL Central standings came with surprising swiftness. The Tigers gave Verlander all the support he needed during a three-run third inning in which they batted around. The Tigers loaded the bases when Austin Jackson singled, Don Kelly reached on a routine pop which second baseman Orlando Cabrera mishandled for an error, and Brennan Boesch's pop was lost in the sun by left fielder Travis Buck. Miguel Cabrera's sacrifice fly scored Jackson. After Victor Martinez walked, Andy Dirks' single drove in Kelly, and Alex Avila's sacrifice fly scored Boesch to make it 3-0. The Tigers added a seventh-inning run on singles by Miguel Cabrera, Martinez and Dirks. Carlos Santana's single with two outs in the ninth inning made him Cleveland's fourth and final baserunner, none of whom advanced past first base. Santana was hit by a pitch with one out in the first inning and Michael Brantley reached on a walk in the seventh.
