ST. PETERSBURG, Fla., Aug. 22 (UPI) -- Justin Verlander collected his 19th victory -- his seventh straight win -- and Alex Avila homered Monday in the Detroit Tigers' 5-2 win over Tampa Bay.
Verlander (19-5) yielded just one run on three hits over seven innings while fanning eight to tie his career-high in wins. The Tigers' ace lowered his ERA to 2.28, second-best in the American League behind Jered Weaver of the Los Angeles Angels, and raised his major league-best strikeout total to 212.
Avila delivered a two-run shot in the second inning and Don Kelly also went deep for the Tigers, who padded their American League Central lead to 5 1/2 games over the second-place Cleveland Indians and Chicago White Sox.
Tampa Bay's Jeff Niemann (8-5) was touched for four runs on six hits over 7 1/3 innings, losing his first decision since May 4.
Evan Longoria and Matt Joyce hit long balls for the Rays.
