KEY STAT
1000: Justin Verlander got his 1,000th career strikeout, and it came against AJ Pierzynski! Another number: he is the 15th Tigers pitcher ever to get to that mark.
KEY PLAY
Ryan Raburn's third-inning home run gives Detroit a comfortable 4-0 lead.
KEY THOUGHTS
I think I can hear Hawk Harrelson crying in his beverage from here. Ah, sounds like a child's laughter.
So Justin Verlander did really well again. He did give up three runs on three home runs. One of them came on a home run by Paul Konerko that appeared to be foul the entire time until it just barely hit the foul pole. This surprised Konerko, who stepped and watched what he thought was a long foul. Verlander had a sort of "whatchagonnado?" look on his face. So what did he do? Struck out two of the next three batters for eight total in seven innings.
And since baseball is baseball, just as everyone moans about the lack of run-scoring Detroit puts six runs on the board against Sox ace Buehrle. Ryan Raburn hit another home run and had two hits. Jhonny Peralta, Alex Avila and Casper Wells each had two hits -- at least one extra-base knock apiece.
By the way, the Tigers are 3-0 in Friday games now, but, er, don't ask about Saturday ... .