CHICAGO (AP) — Justin Verlander got his 14th win and Wilson Betemit had a two-out, go-ahead single in the eighth inning Tuesday night as the Detroit Tigers beat the Chicago White Sox 5-4 and increased their lead in the AL Central.
Verlander (14-5), beaten by the White Sox 11 days ago in Detroit, allowed four runs and seven hits in eight innings, including two-run homers to Adam Dunn in the first and Paul Konerko in the sixth. Verlander, who threw 125 pitches, came back to strike out Konerko and Dunn with a runner on in the eighth.
Jose Valverde pitched the ninth for his 27th save in as many chances.
Detroit leads the division by two games over Cleveland and the third-place White Sox are 4 1-2 games out.