Verlander strikes out 11, brings Tigers close to title

CLEVELAND – Justin Verlander pitched the Detroit Tigers closer to a division title and pushed the Cleveland Indians within one loss of matching a franchise record for futility with a 6-5 win in the American League on Thursday.

Verlander (17-9) struck out 11 in seven innings and Carlos Guillen had three hits and an RBI as the Tigers handed Cleveland its 11th straight loss. The Indians haven’t dropped 11 in a row since setting a club record with 12 consecutive losses in 1931.

With the win, Detroit moved three games ahead of the idle Minnesota Twins in the AL’s Central Division.

Carlos Carrasco (0-3) gave up four runs in five innings.

At Kansas City, Missouri, David Ortiz homered and drove in three runs, and Clay Buchholz took a shutout into the seventh inning to help Boston trounce Kansas City, 10-3, and move closer to the postseason.

Jacoby Ellsbury had four hits and two RBIs, Victor Martinez extended his hitting streak to 23 games and Dustin Pedroia pushed his to 16 games, lowering Boston’s magic number for clinching the AL wild card to three.

Royals starter Anthony Lerew (0-1) had a solid return to the majors. Back from Tommy John surgery, the right-hander Lerew allowed two earned runs – four total – on seven hits in 4 2-3 innings.

At Oakland, California, Jack Cust homered to help rookie Brett Anderson win his fourth straight start and Cliff Pennington hit a two-run triple as Oakland salvaged a split of a four-game series against Texas, 12-3.

Anderson (11-10), who has struggled for run support much of the year, allowed three runs, one earned, and six hits in 5 2-3 innings. He improved to 8-3 over his last 16 starts.

At Toronto, Felix Hernandez had a season-high 11 strikeouts and Josh Wilson hit a tiebreaking two-run triple in the eighth inning as Seattle edged Toronto, 5-4.

Hernandez (17-5) allowed four runs, three earned, and seven hits in eight innings to improve to 5-0 with a 1.57 ERA in his last six starts.

Franklin Gutierrez hit a two-run homer for Seattle, which has won six of eight.

Wilson gave the Mariners a 5-3 lead with a two-out triple to right off left-hander Jesse Carlson (1-6), scoring Adrian Beltre and Bill Hall. (AP)