he season when he was short from 50 yards in the fourth quarter. He is 6-for-11 | Forum

CLEVELAND -- Justin Verlander recently watched videotape of his 2011 season, when he was the ALs MVP and noticed he wasnt pitching the way he had back then -- dominating, overpowering, nearly unhittable. Blue Jays Jerseys China . Verlander made an adjustment. And made the Indians look silly. Verlander toyed with Clevelands lineup for eight innings and Don Kelly hit a three-run homer off Justin Masterson, leading the Detroit Tigers to their 10th straight win, 5-1 over the Indians, who cant seem to beat the one team theyre chasing. "Thats the Justin Verlander we know," Tigers manager Jim Leyland said. Verlander (12-8) allowed one run and four hits as the Tigers won their second straight in this four-game series and beat the Indians for 10th time in 11 games to open a five-game lead over Cleveland in the AL Central. Kelly connected in the fifth inning off Masterson (13-8) and Miguel Cabrera picked up his 100th RBI as the Tigers improved to 11-3 against their nearest division rival. "Every games a big game but especially against the guys who are chasing us," Verlander said. "Theyve been playing extremely well. We know its going to be a battle this series. Its not over yet but winning the first two is a great start." The Indians, who are 24-10 against the Centrals three other teams, have to win the next two over Detroit just to gain a split. To do that, theyll have to beat Doug Fister and Max Scherzer. "Detroit has four aces, which is why they are so good," Indians manager Terry Francona said before the game. Although Scherzer leads the AL with 16 wins and is the front-runner to win the Cy Young this season, Verlander remains the Tigers top gun and the one they turn to when things get tough. He has struggled at times this season, but has now found his old form. "The adjustment that I made obviously made not just a little impact but a pretty big impact," said Verlander, who explained he altered his motion toward the plate. "Everything Ive been searching for I was able to find it today. Thats a huge stride in the right direction." Verlander gave up an RBI groundout in the second, but otherwise handled the Indians with ease. When Cleveland threatened in the sixth with two on and none out, Verlander turned up the heat. He retired Nick Swisher on a deep fly to right before blowing a 100 mph fastball past All-Star Jason Kipnis for strike two and then locked him up with an 84 mph changeup. Verlander then got Asdrubal Cabrera to ground out on another fastball then hit the century mark on the radar gun. As he headed toward the dugout, the right-hander pumped his fist knowing he had probably put the Indians away for good. "We had a couple chances and he seemed to find another gear tonight, that weve unfortunately seen in the past," Francona said. "When he starts hitting 100 at the knees, thats tough." Masterson had one bad inning, and it cost him. Kellys three-run shot highlighted Detroits five-run fifth off the right-hander, who hurt himself by hitting two batters during the inning. First, he plunked No. 9 hitter Ramon Santiago, who had squared to bunt before getting drilled. Austin Jackson followed with a single and Torii Hunters RBI groundout brought in Santiago to tie it 1-all. Cabrera, who missed three games with a hip injury, then sent a drive off the centre field wall for a go-ahead RBI double, arriving at second with a slow-motion slide. One out later, Masterson hit Victor Martinez on the right foot. Detroits DH hopped around in obvious pain and Cabrera even left third base to check on his teammate, who limped to first but stayed in the game. Kelly followed by drilling a 1-1 pitch into the Tigers bullpen for his fifth homer to make it 5-1. Kelly owns Masterson. Hes now 11 of 24 (.458) with two homers and eight RBIs. On June 9, he hit a three-run homer off Masterson in Detroits 4-1 win. "If I was Superman, hed be my Kryptonite," Masterson said. "Theres always a guy. He salivates when Im up there." Like his teammates, Masterson struggles with the Tigers. He dropped to 0-3 with a 7.23 ERA against Detroit this season. The Indians got some bad news even before losing their second straight game in this crucial four-game series as starter Corey Kluber was put on the 15-day disabled list with a sprained right middle finger. The team said Kluber injured his finger on Monday night when he pitched 7 1-3 shutout innings. There is no timetable on Klubers injury, but Indians starter Zach McAllister recently missed seven weeks with a similar ailment. "Im disappointed for him," Francona said. "It makes it harder for us." The Indians took a 1-0 lead in the second on Verlander, who despite his gaudy numbers against most teams, came in just 16-14 in his career against Cleveland. Asdrubal Cabrera led off with a double and Michael Brantley followed with a single. Cabrera got caught in a rundown between third and home for the first out, but Ryan Raburn came through with an RBI groundout against his former teammates. Masterson pitched himself into and out of trouble in the second. He walked Prince Fielder and Martinez to open the inning and then gave up a single to Kelly. However, the right-hander buckled down and struck out Alex Avila and Jose Iglesias before getting Santiago to bounce into a force at second. NOTES: The Tigers have won 14 of 18 against the Indians dating to Sept. 5 last season. Detroit has outscored Cleveland 109-62 in those games. ... Indians rookie RHP Danny Salazar will make his second career start Wednesday. Ubaldo Jimenez was pushed back for Salazar, who took a no-hitter into the sixth in his debut on July 11. ... Tigers 2B Omar Infante (sprained left ankle) began a minor league rehab assignment for Triple-A Toledo on Tuesday. ... Tigers RHP Octavio Dotel (sore elbow) will began a rehab assignment at Class-A Lakeland (Fla.) Wednesday. Hes been out since April 20. Custom Blue Jays T-shirts . Clarkson had been dealing with an elbow injury in early January and will be out of action for at least one week. He has three goals and five assists through 36 games with the Leafs this season. Custom Blue Jays Jerseys . A lawyer for MLB, Matthew Menchel, confirmed Wednesday the league dropped its case against Biogenesis of America, its owner Anthony Bosch and several other individuals. The lawsuit had accused Biogenesis and Bosch of conspiring with players to violate their contracts by providing them with banned performance-enhancing substances. http://www.custombluejaysjersey.com/ . LOUIS -- Roman Polak was celebrating even before Alexander Steen scored the winning goal in Saturdays 4-2 win over the Carolina Hurricanes. SANTA CLARA, Calif. -- Jameis Winston threw three touchdown passes and Jacquizz Rodgers ran for 154 yards to lead the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to a 34-17 victory over the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday.The Bucs (3-3) fell behind by 14 points early before scoring 27 straight to deal the Niners (1-6) their sixth straight loss for San Franciscos longest losing streak since 2008.Mike Evans caught eight passes for 96 yards and two touchdowns , Russell Shepard scored on a 19-yard pass from Winston and Peyton Barber iced the game with a 44-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter to help Tampa Bay win its second straight game around its bye week.Colin Kaepernick struggled in his second start of the season for the 49ers, going just 16 for 34 for 143 yards and turning the ball over twice after kneeling once again for the national anthem. Kaepernick replaced Blaine Gabbert as starter last week in Buffalo but has not shown any signs that he can regain the form that helped lead San Francisco to a Super Bowl appearance and spot in the NFC title game in the 2012 and `13 seasons.The problems in San Francisco run much deeper than the quarterback position. The Bucs ran for 249 yards as San Francisco has allowed 562 on the ground the past two weeks to put them on pace to give up the most yards rushing in a season since the 1981 New England Patriots.OPPORTUNISTIC PLAY: The Bucs turned two turnovers by San Francisco into 10 points in the third quarter. The first came when Niners rookie Aaron Burbridge collided with punt returner Jeremy Kerley, who was calling for a fair catch. That led to a muff that Tampa Bay recoverred, setting up a field goal by Roberto Aguayo. Wholesale Custom Blue Jays Shirts. On San Franciscos next possession, Jude Adjei-Barimah blitzed and forced a fumble by Kaepernick that Gerald McCoy recovered. Winston then threw a 3-yard TD pass to Evans to make it 27-14.POROUS DEFENSE: Rodgers didnt take long to become the sixth straight running back to top the 100-yard mark in a game against the 49ers. His 45-yard run in the second quarter set up a field goal by Roberto Aguayo and gave him 102 yards on the day. Rodgers joined Fozzy Whitaker, Christine Michael, Ezekiel Elliott, David Johnson and LeSean McCoy as backs to gain at least 100 yards against San Francisco this season. The Niners are on pace to allow the most yards rushing in a season since 1985.FAST START: For the second time in the past three home games, the Niners broke out to a 14-0 lead and lost it all by halftime. Kaepernick led a 75-yard drive to open the game, capped by Mike Davis 4-yard run . Gerald Hodges interception of Winston then set up a 17-yard TD pass from Kaepernick to Shaun Draughn. Tampa Bay scored 17 points in the second quarter to take the lead. Three weeks ago, Dallas fell behind 14-0 before tying the game at halftime and winning 24-17.MISSED KICK: Aguayo, a second-round draft pick, missed his fifth field goal of the season when he was short from 50 yards in the fourth quarter. He is 6-for-11 on the year and has also missed one extra point.---Online:AP NFL website: www.pro32.ap.org and www.twitter.com/AP-NFL ' ' '