The Cleveland Indians (50-49) rallied from an early two-run deficit to knock out Detroit Tigers' ace Justin Verlander with a four-run seventh inning en route to 5-3 win at Progressive Field. The Indians took two out of three games from the Central Division leading Tigers (53-46) and now trail by just three games in the standings.
Verlander (11-6) looked strong through six innings but the Indians broke through in the bottom of the seventh with six hits and four runs. Carlos Santana and Travis Hafner sparked the Cleveland rally with back-to-back home runs to start the seventh inning and tie the game. Shortstop Asdrubal Cabrera singled later in the inning to score Jose Lopez with the go-ahead run.
Cleveland right-hander Zach McAllister gave up three runs and struck out seven in six and a third innings before giving way to eventual winner Joe Smith (7-2). Smith earned his second win of the series while Chirs Perez struck out two batters and left two Tigers stranded on base to lock down the win and his 29th save of the season.
The Indians hit the road on Friday to begin a weekend series against the Minnesota Twins.
For more on the Cleveland Indians, head over to Let's Go Tribe, and for more on the Detroit Tigers, check out Bless You Boys. You can also head over to SB Nation's main MLB hub at Baseball Nation.