ROUNDUP

at Detroit 7, Chicago 1: In the opener of a possibly pivotal four-game series in the AL Central, Justin Verlander gave up one run over seven innings to beat the defending World Series champions. Detroit had lost nine of its previous 12 games, and its division lead -- which bulged to 10 games on Aug. 7 -- had dipped to 5 1/2 games. Backed by Craig Monroe’s two-run home run and Sean Casey’s three runs batted in, the Tigers beat Chicago for only the fourth time in 13 games this year and boosted their margin over the second-place White Sox to 6 1/2 games. Jermaine Dye’s career-high 34th home run put Chicago ahead in the second, but the Tigers went in front for good in the home half on RBI singles from Ivan Rodriguez and Casey. Monroe’s homer made it 4-1 in the fifth.

*

at Tampa Bay 4, Texas 3: James Shields won consecutive starts for the first time since mid-June, and Russell Branyan hit a tiebreaking single in the fifth inning. In Texas Manager Buck Showalter’s first game after a four-game suspension, Hank Blalock homered and had three RBIs for the Rangers, whose three-game winning streak was stopped.