Where: Target Field, Minneapolis, Minnesota
Temperature: 84°
Umpires: Home - Adrian Johnson, 1B - Fieldin Culbreth, 2B - Bill Miller, 3B - Gary Cederstrom
Attendance: 40149
Justin Verlander tossed eight strong innings and Jhonny Peralta homered and drove in three runs as the visiting Detroit Tigers rolled to a 6-2 win over the Minnesota Twins on Thursday.
After giving up five runs over six innings in his last start, Verlander (13-5) rebounded Thursday by allowing one run on five hits with no walks while striking out nine.
Verlander threw 126 pitches before giving way to Phil Coke for the ninth inning. The Tigers took over sole possession of first place in the AL Central with a half-game lead over the idle Cleveland Indians.
Brennan Boesch hit a two-run homer in the fifth inning to give the Tigers a 3-0 lead against Twins starter Carl Pavano (6-7), who allowed five runs on nine hits over six innings.
The Tigers have won 10 consecutive contests against the Twins, including six this season. Minnesota dropped six games behind the Tigers with the loss.
| Detroit | Minnesota | |
| Justin Verlander | Player | Carl Pavano |
| Win | W/L | Loss |
| 8.0 | IP | 6.0 |
| 9 | Strikeouts | 2 |
| 5 | Hits | 9 |
| 1.12 | ERA | 7.50 |
| Detroit | Minnesota | |
| Jhonny Peralta | Player | Michael Cuddyer |
| 3 | Hits | 2 |
| 3 | RBI | 1 |
| 1 | HR | 0 |
| 7 | TB | 4 |
| .750 | Avg | .500 |