MLB: Verlander on song for Tigers

The Detroit Tigers climbed past Cleveland into first place in the AL Central on Sunday with a 2-1 victory over the Kansas City Royals.

In that game, Justin Verlander also became the first Tigers pitcher to earn his 12th win before the All-Star break in 24 years.
Elsewhere, Anthony Swarzak dominated over six innings, and the Minnesota Twins got back to beating the Chicago White Sox with a 6-3 victory, and Jose Bautista hit a two-run double to help the Toronto Blue Jays defeat the Cleveland Indians 7-1.
Mike Cameron belted a tying two-run homer for his first hit since joining the Florida Marlins, who completed a four-game sweep of the woeful Houston Astros with a 5-4 victory, while Marco Scutaro, Dustin Pedroia and Kevin Youkilis homered in the second inning, and the Boston Red Sox beat the Baltimore Orioles 8-6 for their sixth consecutive Major League victory.
Andre Ethier homered twice before heading off to his second straight All-Star game, Ted Lilly won for the first time in a month after losing his previous four starts and the Los Angeles Dodgers beat San Diego 4-1, and the Milwaukee Brewers pounced on Cincinnati Reds closer Francisco Cordero, rallying from a run down in the ninth for a 4-3 victory Sunday.
Alberto Callaspo hit a tie-breaking two-run double in the eighth inning, Dan Haren pitched five-hit ball before falling one out short of his second straight complete game, and the Los Angeles Angels rolled into the All-Star break with their 14th victory in 17 games, 4-2 over the struggling Seattle Mariners.
James Shields and B.J. Upton made bad throwing errors that let Robinson Cano score the only run, sending CC Sabathia and the New York Yankees to a 1-0 victory over the Tampa Bay Rays, and Raul Ibanez homered and drove in six runs to back eight strong innings by Cole Hamels in the Philadelphia Phillies' 14-1 rout of the Atlanta Braves.
Andrew McCutchen homered and drove in five runs, and the Pittsburgh Pirates beat the Chicago Cubs 9-1, Jaime Garcia won for the sixth time at home as the St. Louis Cardinals saw off the Arizona Diamondbacks 4-2, and Matt Harrison pitched six-hit ball into the eighth inning as the Texas Rangers extended their winning streak to a season-best seven games with a 2-0 victory over the Oakland Athletics.
Jordan Zimmermann took a shutout into the seventh inning, Roger Bernadina and Rick Ankiel provided the offense, and the Washington Nationals beat the Colorado Rockies 2-0 to head into the All-Star break with a .500 record for the first time since 2005.
Pablo Sandoval celebrated his first All-Star game selection by hitting an RBI double to extend his hitting streak to 21 games and fellow All-Star Matt Cain pitched six scoreless innings to lead the San Francisco Giants to a 4-2 victory over the New York Mets.