Verlander Dominates, Tigers Shutout Royals

The Tigers defeated the Roylas 6-0 tonight behind the dominant pitching of Justin Verlander. The Tiger rookie pitched 7 innings allowing just 2 hits and 2 walks, all of them coming in the first 3 innings. Verlander was a pleasure to watch tonight as he had all of his pitches working and his curve was particularly unhittable. He lowered his season ERA to 2.83 which is 3rd in the league. Jamie Walker pitched 2 innings of one hit relief to preserve the Tiger's Major League leading 12th shutout.

Offensively, the Tigers had their usual balanced attack spreading 11 hits among 7 hitters. Ivan Rodriguez (3 hits) and Infante (2 hits) paced the attack. Placido Polanco added 3 RBI on a double and a sacrifice fly. Chris Shelton and BrandonInge each reached base 3 times on a hit and 2 walks.

The Tigers now have a perfect 10-0 record versus the Royals this year as they continue to beat up the weaker teams in baseball. The victory put them 4 1/2 games ahead of the White Sox who lost to the Yankees 14-3. It is their biggest lead of the season so far. Here are the standings after tonight's action:

American League Central Standings: July 15, 2006

Team	W	L	PCT	GB
Detroit	62	29	.681	----
Chicago	57	33	.633	4 ½
Minnesota	49	40	.551	12
Cleveland	41	49	.456	20 ½
Kansas City	31	59	.344	30 ½