Tigers starter Justin Verlander was given a 2-0 lead to begin the game in Cleveland Wednesday night. By the end of the second inning he gave it back.

Detroit then scored four times for him in the third inning and three more in the fifth for a 9-2 lead. Verlander uncharacteristically gave back some of those runs. He allowed an RBI single to Michael Brantley in the fifth followed by a Carlos Santana two-run homer before the game went into a rain delay.

Verlander came back after the delay to get the final two outs of the fifth inning to qualify for the win and improve to 5-4. The ace gave up five runs on 10 hits and a walk in five innings with nine strikeouts over 110 pitches. His ERA is 3.66.

Verlander has back-to-back poor starts and is 1-2 in his last three outings. He's given up 16 runs over a span of 12 2/3 innings in his last three starts. He next starts Monday against Pittsburgh.