Justin Verlander tied a season-high with 11 strikeouts and the Detroit Tigers moved into the second AL wild-card spot by beating the Minnesota Twins 4-2 Thursday to sweep a day-night doubleheader.
Erick Aybar drove in two runs for Detroit, which moved a half-game ahead of Baltimore for the second wild card and trails Toronto by one game. The Tigers went 9-0 at Minnesota this year.
Minnesota’s runs came from solo homers by Juan Centeno and Byron Buxton. Brian Dozier went 0-4 to end his 24-game hitting streak. Dozier had homered in game one.
Victor Martinez had a pinch-hit, three-run homer during a six-run ninth inning as Detroit won the opener 9-2. Justin Upton added his 26th home run.
The Twins host Seattle for the weekend while trying to snap a six game losing streak.
