ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Justin Verlander became the first 19-game winner in the majors, Alex Avila hit his 15th homer and the AL Central-leading Detroit Tigers beat the Tampa Bay Rays 5-2 on Monday night.
Verlander (19-5) won his seventh consecutive start, giving up one run and three hits in seven innings. The 19 wins match his career high, set in 2009.
The Tigers took a 2-1 lead in the second when Avila hit a two-run shot off Jeff Niemann (8-5). The all-star catcher is 25 for 59 (.424) with five homers and 14 RBIs this month.
Niemann, who was 7-0 in his 10 previous start, allowed four runs and six hits over 7 1-3 innings.
Tampa Bay centre-fielder B.J. Upton left with a right shoulder strain after running into the wall on Delmon Young's eighth-inning double.
Mariners 3, Indians 2
CLEVELAND — Franklin Gutierrez lifted a bases-loaded sacrifice fly in the ninth inning and the Mariners scored the go-ahead run without getting a hit to beat the Indians.
The Indians, swept by AL Central-leading Detroit over the weekend, lost their fourth in a row.
Cleveland closer Chris Perez (2-6) hit both Miguel Olivo and Brendan Ryan with pitches to start the ninth. Perez then compounded his problems by dropping a sacrifice bunt by Trayvon Robinson, loading the bases with no outs.
Ichiro Suzuki, who already had three hits, struck out. But Gutierrez, formerly of the Indians, hit a fly to medium centre field and Olivo barely beat Ezequiel Carrera's one-hop throw home.
Orioles 4, Twins 1
MINNEAPOLIS — J.J. Hardy homered against the team that traded him in the off-season, Zach Britton won for the first time in 10 weeks and the Orioles snapped a five-game losing streak by beating the Twins.
Matt Wieters also homered, Ryan Adams added an RBI after being recalled from Triple-A Norfolk and Nick Markakis delivered an RBI double.
Kevin Gregg pitched the ninth for his 18th save.
Twins manager Ron Gardenhire and third baseman Danny Valencia were ejected by plate umpire Hunter Wendelstedt in the eighth inning after Valencia struck out.
Rangers 4, Red Sox 0
ARLINGTON — C.J. Wilson threw 6 2-3 scoreless innings for his 13th victory and Mike Napoli hit a three-run homer as the AL West-leading Texas Rangers returned home with a 4-0 victory over the Boston Red Sox on Monday night.
Wilson (13-5) struck out four while limiting the Red Sox to four singles.
Napoli's 21st homer, in the sixth off Erik Bedard (4-9), extended the Rangers' 1-0 lead and his hitting streak to a season-best 11.
Bedard is 0-2 in his four starts for the Red Sox since being acquired July 31 in a trade from Seattle. The left-hander struck out four and allowed seven hits over six innings.
