Justin Verlander had struck out only two hitters all night, but with the tying run suddenly on base after another Detroit miscue in the field, the right-hander let loose a bit.

”The mindset is: OK, turn the page,” Verlander said. ”Pick up my teammate.”

Verlander struck out Allen Craig with the bases full to end the seventh inning, and the Tigers breezed from there to a 6-3 win over the St. Louis Cardinals on Tuesday night. Detroit outfielder Quintin Berry dropped a flyball to keep the St. Louis rally going in the seventh, but that error ended up as a mere footnote in the Tigers’ eighth win in 11 games.

Verlander (7-4) allowed one earned run in seven innings. He allowed five hits and walked four, striking out only three.

”I was trying to be economical,” Verlander said. ”My guys gave me a four-, five-run lead, I’m not trying to go out there and strike out anybody.”

Joaquin Benoit worked the eighth, and Phil Coke pitched a perfect ninth for his first save of the year. Detroit closer Jose Valverde felt pain in his right wrist while warming up and couldn’t pitch. He said afterward he was hopeful the injury wasn’t serious.

Lance Lynn (10-3) allowed five runs and nine hits in five innings. He struck out four and walked two.

”I really needed my A game tonight, especially against Verlander, but I didn’t bring it,” Lynn said. ”My fastball wasn’t where I wanted it tonight, and I was leaving too many pitches up.”

Austin Jackson hit a two-run double for the Tigers, part of their three-run second inning.

Verlander worked at least six innings for a 57th straight start, the longest streak since Steve Carlton’s 69-gamer from 1979-82. Last year’s AL Cy Young and MVP winner had struck out at least four batters in every start this season, but the Cardinals were able to make consistent contact.

Verlander allowed a hit and two walks in the seventh to load the bases before Berry, the left fielder, dropped Carlos Beltran’s deep flyball for an error that allowed two runs to score, making it 6-3. Detroit has already made its share of big mistakes in the field this year, and after a walk to Matt Holliday, the bases were loaded again.

With Craig hitting, Verlander reached 101 mph with his 105th pitch of the night. Then he hit 100 with the next one. Two pitches later, Craig chased a breaking ball for strike three.

”We put a little pressure on him late, but we couldn’t get the big hit that we needed,” St. Louis manager Mike Matheny said. ”Our guys were definitely up for the challenge, but that’s what he does. The great ones always have that extra gear when they need it.”

The Tigers are slowly climbing out of a hole in the AL Central. They trail first-place Cleveland by two games.

”Hopefully some of the people that fell off the bandwagon – and rightfully so – we can earn their respect and get them back on the bandwagon,” Detroit manager Jim Leyland said. ”That’s normally the way it works.”

Miguel Cabrera doubled in the first and scored on a single by Delmon Young. Jackson’s double with the bases loaded in the second made it 3-0, and Berry followed with an RBI groundout.

Young brought home another run with a single in the fifth.

Lynn had allowed five runs only one other time as a starter, on June 2, 2011, against San Francisco.

Holliday drove in a run with a sixth-inning groundout, but Cabrera’s RBI single in the bottom half made it 6-1.

— Associated Press —

David Freese homered, doubled and drove in three runs, leading the St. Louis Cardinals to a 5-3 victory over the Chicago White Sox on Thursday night.

Adam Dunn tied Texas’ Josh Hamilton for the major league home run lead with his 22nd, a three-run shot in the sixth that pulled the White Sox to 5-3.

Matt Adams had a two-run single for St. Louis, which had scored one run in three straight games coming in and no more than two in each of the last five.

Cardinals starter Jake Westbrook (5-6) retired the first 12 batters on 41 pitches before giving up a leadoff single in the fifth inning to Paul Konerko, who leads the American League with a .364 average. Westbrook threw only 67 pitches in six innings, allowing five hits and three runs.

The win snapped a slump for Westbrook, who had gone 0-4 with a 7.55 ERA in his previous six outings since winning May 8 at Arizona.

Westbrook also broke his skid against Chicago. He was 0-5 with a 5.87 ERA in his previous eight starts against the White Sox since beating them Aug. 7, 2007, when he was with Cleveland. He had not faced Chicago since 2010.

Jason Motte pitched the ninth for his 13th save.

White Sox starter Gavin Floyd (4-7) is 1-4 with a 10.38 ERA in his last six starts. Floyd, who is 0-5 in his last eight interleague starts, allowed five runs in 4 2/3 innings, hiking his ERA to 5.63.

Freese gave the Cardinals a 1-0 lead with a double in the second inning. He made it 3-0 with a two-out, two-run homer to center field in the third.

After striking out twice, Adams drove in two runs when he singled on a full-count pitch with the bases loaded. That gave St. Louis a 5-0 lead in the fifth inning.

In the sixth, with two on and two outs, Dunn slammed the first pitch from Westbrook over the center field fence. Dunn, who has 50 RBIs, was back in the starting lineup after being scratched Wednesday because of a mild ankle sprain. Dunn has four home runs and 11 RBIs in his last six games.

St. Louis shortstop Rafael Furcal snapped an 0-for-23 skid with a single in the eighth.

— Associated Press —

Lance Lynn struck out a career-high 12 to stay tied for the major league lead in wins, and Carlos Beltran hit his NL-best 19th home run Wednesday night, sending the St. Louis Cardinals to a 1-0 victory over the White Sox that ended Chicago’s eight-game road winning streak.

Beltran homered in the third inning off Jake Peavy (6-2) and had three of the four hits for the Cardinals, who have scored only seven runs in the past five games and totaled a single run for the third straight game. They’ve won just five of 14.

Lynn (10-2) allowed three hits in 7 1/3 innings and joined Mets knuckleballer R.A. Dickey, who threw a one-hitter at Tampa Bay earlier in the night, as the only 10-game winners in the majors.

— Associated Press —

After dropping two of three to the Houston Astros, Paul Konerko said the Chicago White Sox were looking to get back on track as quickly as possible Tuesday night against the St. Louis Cardinals.

Konerko had three hits to lift his major-league best average to .373, and teammates A.J. Pierzynski and Adam Dunn homered to lead the White Sox to a 6-1 win.

Konerko said it was a big win for his team.

”We’ve had already about six or seven of those moments where we’re doing well and then we had a hiccup,” Konerko said. ”You just know you have to bounce back if you want to stay in it. That was tonight.”

Chicago has won eight straight road games and is a major league-best 17-6 since May 17.

Rookie left-hander Jose Quintana (2-1) allowed one run over 5 1-3 innings to get the win and Orlando Hudson hit a two-run triple for Chicago.

Quintana (2-1), making his fifth start, allowed a career-high 10 hits but did not issue a walk and was helped out by three double plays.

”That’s actually what I was looking for,” Quintana said through an interpreter. ”The double plays were going to get me out of the inning and I was able to get them.”

White Sox manager Robin Ventura said that Quintana, who is filling in for the injured John Danks, has earned at least one more start.

”He’s getting it again,” Ventura said. ”He’s proven he can pitch up here. When he goes out there and does what he’s doing right now, he’s making a strong case for staying around.”

The Cardinals are moving in the opposite direction, dropping three of their past four to fall back to .500 (31-31).

”We’re going through a spot right now and you could see the contrast,” St. Louis manager Mike Matheny said. ”You could see one team with a lot of confidence and one team on the other side with not so much. We’ve got to figure out how to get it back.”

Matt Holliday went 2 for 4 with a run scored for St. Louis. Allen Craig drove in the Cardinals’ run with an RBI single in the sixth.

St. Louis starter Adam Wainwright (5-7) went seven innings and five hits. He gave up two runs while striking out seven and walking two.

Konerko ignited the only rally off Wainwright with a leadoff single to start the second inning. He was erased by Alex Rios’ fielder’s choice, but Pierzynski kept the inning going with a single to center. Hudson then drove in Rios and Pierzynski with a two-out triple to right center that glanced off right fielder Carlos Beltran’s glove.

”I just didn’t quite make the pitches I wanted to to Hudson, and I made a mistake to Konerko,” Wainwright said. ”Other than that, I was pretty sharp.”

The White Sox scored four runs in the eighth off relievers Marc Rzepczynski and Mitchell Boggs. Rzepczynski gave up an RBI single to Gordon Beckham, who was thrown out trying to advance to second, and Dunn’s 436-foot homer over the Cardinals’ bullpen in right field to make it 4-1. Boggs relieved Rzepczynski and gave up a single to Konerko and a 408-foot line shot into the stands in right by Pierzynski.

— Associated Press —

Chris Perez insisted it was no big deal that his 20th consecutive save came against his old team. The body language begged to differ.

The Cleveland Indians closer finished off a 4-1 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals on Sunday while battling an upset stomach that left him spitting up fluid between pitches. After getting Adron Chambers on a popup with a man on first for the final out, Perez went down to one knee.

“I drank some warm water and I ran out there, and it just didn’t settle well,” Perez said. “What am I going to do, call timeout and run into the dugout?

“If you remember, a couple years ago in spring training it was the same situation. So I need to stay away from warm water.”

Cleveland’s Jason Kipnis hit a tiebreaking three-run homer off closer Jason Motte in the ninth inning after the Cardinals left the bases loaded in the eighth. Vinnie Pestano (3-0) walked three straight batters with one out in the eighth but recovered to strike out No. 3 hitter Yadier Molina and cleanup man Allen Craig.

“That’s the game right there,” Kipnis said. “I thought both starting pitchers did a great job, and it just came down to who can execute late.”

Carlos Beltran homered for the second straight day to increase his National League-leading total to 18, and Joe Kelly allowed one run in five-plus innings in his major league debut for the Cardinals. St. Louis is the only major league team that has not won a series over the Indians, who are 14-6 overall and 8-4 on the road against the Cardinals.

“It’s a little bit of everything right now,” Beltran said. “We’ve been battling injuries and things like that, but at the same time we just need to find a way to play better. There’s no excuses.”

The Cardinals have lost eight of 12 and totaled just five runs in the series. They went the last two without cleanup hitter Matt Holliday, who could return from mid-back spasms on Tuesday after the team’s off day Monday.

“Guys are grinding. They’re fighting, and I’m going to continue to stay optimistic because that’s what I believe,” manager Mike Matheny said. “It’s not a facade — it’s only a matter of time before we take off.

“When we take off, it’s going to be a good run.”

Michael Brantley extended his hitting streak to 18 games and Ubaldo Jimenez had a season-best seven strikeouts in seven strong innings for Cleveland.

The Indians had scored just one run in 19 innings before the ninth, when pinch hitter Johnny Damon hit a leadoff single and Asdrubal Cabrera walked with one out. Kipnis hit his 10th homer on a 2-2 fastball from Motte (3-3).

On Saturday, Motte got Kipnis to fly out to right on a pitch that he thought had a slightly better location.

“It’s just one of those things,” Motte said. “He got the barrel on it. It happens.”

The Indians won despite going 1 for 9 with runners in scoring position and 2 for 18 with men on base. Perez, who once competed with Motte for the St. Louis closer spot, has been flawless since blowing a save on opening day.

“I enjoyed pitching out there today, beating my former team, but at the end of the day I was just trying to get the save,” Perez said. “If I go out there too amped up and trying to do too much, I wouldn’t have had a good outing.”

Jimenez had his first walk-free game of the season, after coming in with 43 walks in 62 2/3 innings. The right-hander has walked just one in his last two starts covering 13 2/3 innings and faced only three three-ball counts against the Cardinals. The first came in the first inning against Beltran, who belted a 3-1 pitch an estimated 428 feet to right-center.

Jimenez then retired 13 in a row, including five strikeouts in a span of eight at-bats.

Kelly, who replaced the injured Jaime Garcia in the rotation, left to a standing ovation after Brantley singled to start the sixth and kept his hit streak alive.

“It felt like another start,” said Kelly, who began last season at the Class A level. “I didn’t think I was going to sleep last night and I got great sleep.

“I was relaxed. It was good to go.”

Brantley is batting .357 (25 for 70) during his hit streak, the longest current run in the majors and two shy of the season’s longest by Adam Jones of Baltimore that ended May 30. Brantley can match his career best, set in 2010, at Cincinnati on Tuesday.

— Associated Press —

Carlos Beltran would prefer to hit in one spot every day. No matter where he lands on the lineup card, there’s no arguing the results.

Primarily the St. Louis Cardinals’ cleanup man, Beltran provided some pop batting second in a 2-0 victory over the Cleveland Indians on Saturday night. Beltran hit his National League-leading 17th home run in support of Kyle Lohse, who allowed three hits in 7 2/3 innings to outduel Justin Masterson.

“I felt in control, I felt like I was getting pretty quick outs,” Lohse said. “If I’m doing those things, keeping the ball on the ground, that’s my plan.”

Beltran has batted cleanup 31 times, third three times and second 18 times. Manager Mike Matheny resisted the temptation to shift Beltran back to cleanup after Matt Holliday was scratched just before the first pitch with mid-back spasms.

Beltran, who has homered nine times batting second, also leads the Cardinals with 45 RBIs.

“For me, honestly this year has been more difficult than any year,” Beltran said. “As a player I like to come to the ballpark and just know I’m going to hit in one spot and just be there.”

Michael Brantley had two singles to extend his hitting streak to 17 games for Cleveland. But the Indians had only three runners in scoring position against Lohse (6-1), who ended a string of five starts with no-decisions and a 5.16 ERA, and two relievers.

Beltran homered with two outs in the third and had three of the seven hits for St. Louis, which has won three of four. Shane Robinson doubled to start the eighth and scored on Rafael Furcal’s one-out sacrifice fly against Jeremy Accardo.

The game took just 2 hours, 14 minutes, the fastest of the season for both teams. It was the first time the Indians were shut out, leaving only the Tigers who have yet to be blanked.

Manager Manny Acta put his thumbs up in celebration.

“Step in the right direction, that’s great,” Acta said. “It took over two-something months for us to get shut out. They’ve been battling. It had to happen.”

Masterson (2-6) struck out six with no walks in seven innings, while giving up five hits, but fell to 1-4 in his last seven starts. He retired the side in order in three of his last four innings and walked none.

Indians pitchers totaled one walk, an intentional pass from Accardo to Yadier Molina in the eighth that also represented the lone three-ball count against a St. Louis hitter.

“We were right there,” Masterson said. “A little slider that was just hanging up to Beltran. Besides that I was happy with the way things went.”

Lohse moved a game above .500 at 108-107 in his career with his first win over the Indians since 2004, when he worked an inning of relief in a 12-inning game. The outing was his longest of the season, one out longer than on Opening Day when he won at Miami. He also threw 105 pitches for his first time in triple digits this season.

In his last two starts, Lohse has allowed one run on five hits in 13 2/3 innings.

“It’s about as sharp we’ve seen him,” Matheny said. “He was locating everything. It was a great display of pitching.”

Molina threw out Asdrubal Cabrera attempting to steal, ending the eighth on reliever Marc Rzepczynski’s only pitch, and Jason Motte finished for his 11th save in 14 chances.

Brantley is 24 for 65 (.369) during the longest current streak in the majors.

Molina reached a pair of firsts for St. Louis, batting third the first time in his career and getting caught stealing for the first time in six attempts on a nice throw by catcher Carlos Santana to end the sixth. The slow-footed Molina usually catches foes napping.

Matheny said Holliday told him he couldn’t go “about two minutes before we exchanged lineup cards.” He didn’t think Holliday, who underwent treatment throughout the game, would be out long.

“There was some mad rushing going on to get everybody in place, I think he did a smart thing and pulled up,” Matheny said. “He probably could have pushed through it.”

— Associated Press —

Josh Tomlin wanted to talk about his hitting, not his pitching.

Tomlin scattered eight hits over seven innings, Johnny Damon hit a two-run homer and the Cleveland Indians beat St. Louis 6-2 Friday night to send the Cardinals to their seventh loss in 10 games.

In Tomlin’s view, his sixth-inning single was more significant. He improved to 3 for 5 at the plate in his big league career.

“Being in the AL, we don’t get to do this kind of stuff,” he said. “I like being a part of the game both on the offensive and defensive side.”

Tomlin has three of the four hits by Indians pitchers since the start of the 2011 season.

“If you’re going to have to hit you might as well be a complete baseball player,” Tomlin said. “You don’t want to go out there and just give away at bats. You want to do as much as you can to help your team win in a situation like that.”

Tomlin (3-3) pitched shutout ball into the seventh, when he allowed a two-run single to pinch-hitter Matt Adams. He threw just 76 pitches, improving to 4-0 in interleague play.

Tomlin was coming off his poorest outing this season, when he allowed five earned runs over six innings in a 7-4 loss to Minnesota on June 2.

“He was aggressive, attacking the zone early,” Cleveland manager Manny Acta said. “He had a good curveball with depth and that helped him keep those guys off balance.”

St. Louis managed just five hits over the first six innings.

“This is the first time I’ve faced him and he pitched well, he used every pitch,” the Cardinals’ Carlos Beltran said. “He did a good job.”

Tomlin was pitching on five days’ rest.

“The biggest key for me was being able to throw four different pitches for strikes,” he said. “I tried to establish the inside of the plate and keep them off balance the best that I could.”

Former Indians pitcher Jake Westbrook (4-6) gave up four runs — three earned — and eight hits in six innings. He struck out seven and walked one.

“They jumped on everything Jake left up in the zone and made him pay,” St. Louis manager Mike Matheny said. “Then we were in a rut, in a hole.”

Michael Brantley extended his hitting streak to 16 games as the Indians won for the third time in their last four games.

Cleveland went ahead for good in the first when Asdrubal Cabrera and Jason Kipnis hit one-out singles, Carlos Santana followed with an RBI double off the left-field wall and Brantley hit an RBI groundout.

Casey Kotchman hit a run-scoring groundout in the fourth, and Kipnis singled in a run in the fifth to make it 4-0. Damon homered in the seventh off Maikel Cleto, Damon’s second this season.

“It was a slider that was up,” Damon said. “I was surprised that I hit it that far.”

— Associated Press —