DETROIT (AP) — Justin Verlander hit 99 mph in evading a bases-loaded jam during his final inning, and Victor Martinez hit his 200th career home run as the Detroit Tigers beat the Chicago White Sox 7-4 on Wednesday.
Verlander (4-8) threw five straight fastballs 98-99 mph in striking out Geovany Soto to end the seventh inning and exited with a four-run lead. He allowed three runs on five hits with eight strikeouts.
Melky Cabrera’s 100th career home run, a two-run shot in the fourth, accounted for the first two White Sox runs off Verlander.
The Tigers scored six runs off Frankie Montas (0-1) in his first career start. They scored twice in the first on Martinez’s 11th home run, then added four more runs in the third — two of them scoring on J.D. Martinez’s bases-loaded ground-rule double that gave him 98 RBIs for the season.
