The Tigers did everything right tonight, just as if it was July again. Verlander showed that he is not a toasted rookie ready to be shut down for the season. He allowed just one run (a home run by Jermaine Dye in the second) on 5 hits in 7 innings. Joel Zumaya pitched a scoreless 8th including an exciting strikeout of Jim Thome. Leyland was so proud that he hugged the 21 year old hurler in the dugout after the inning. Todd Jones finished it off with a scoreless 9th despite allowing 2 hits. Defensively, they were flawless for the first time in a while.
Offensively, they pounded out 12 hits off Jose Contreras and 3 other pitchers. Surging Craig Monroe hit his 21st home run of the year and Sean Casey had 3 hits to pace the attack. Carlos Guillen, Ivan Rodriguez and Brandon Inge each added a pair of hits.
It was a great game tonight all around, the best win of the year so far. The Tigers are now 6 1/2 games up on the White Sox and 7 games up on the idle Twins:
AL Central Division Standings
| W | L | PCT | GB |
| 80 | 45 | .640 | ----- |
| 73 | 51 | .588 | 6 ½ |
| 72 | 51 | .585 | 7 |
| 56 | 67 | .455 | 23 |
| 45 | 81 | .357 | 35 1/2 |
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