Justin Verlanders curveball was snapping

MINNEAPOLIS -- Justin Verlanders curveball was snapping, Torii Hunters bat was clicking and the Detroit Tigers appeared to be creeping ever closer to locking up their third straight AL Central title. When their bullpen couldnt hold the lead against Minnesotas anemic offence, another chance to reduce their magic number went swirling down the drain. Josmil Pinto hit an RBI single in the 11th inning and the Twins overcame 12 strikeouts by Verlander to beat the Tigers 4-3 on Monday night. The Tigers led 3-0 in the eighth, but Jose Veras gave up RBI doubles to Eduardo Escobar and pinch-hitter Ryan Doumit. Brian Dozier led off the ninth with a tying homer against previously perfect closer Joaquin Benoit. Dozier opened the 11th with a single off Luke Putkonen (1-2) and advanced on a wild pitch. Pinto punched a single to right field to give manager Ron Gardenhire his 998th career victory. Verlander gave up six hits and walked three in six shutout innings for the Tigers, who entered needing two wins -- or one victory and a loss by idle Cleveland -- to lock up the division. "Obviously, its tough," Verlander said. "Were sitting here knocking on the door and every win counts. It was a tough pill to swallow, but thats the lovely thing about baseball. We come out here tomorrow and we have another day and another crack at a win." Anthony Swarzak (3-2) pitched the 11th for the win. Hunter had two doubles, a single and an RBI for Detroit. Miguel Cabrera had two hits and an RBI while moving gingerly on a sore groin that kept him out of Sundays loss to the White Sox. It was a rare stumble for Benoit, who has stabilized the shaky back end of the bullpen since becoming the full-time closer. He had converted 22 straight save chances this season. But the struggles by Veras caused manager Jim Leyland to go to his closer far earlier than he would have liked, and Benoit came on with one out in the eighth to try for a rare five-out save. "I dont even consider that a blown save because youre asking him to do an awful lot," Leyland said. "Hes been absolutely fantastic. Hes a very, very outstanding pitcher." After three straight underwhelming outings by his lofty standards, Verlander was back to his untouchable self against the overmatched Twins. With his curveball bending and his slider biting as well as they ever have, Verlander struck out the side in the second and third -- and the whiffs kept coming. "He looked like his old self," Dozier said. "His breaking ball was really moving and he was punching guys out." Five times Verlander got the Twins looking for strike three, four of them with wicked curveballs that froze the hitters. One of them buckled Chris Parmelees knees for his 10th strikeout of the game in the fourth inning. Verlander topped 200 strikeouts for the fifth straight year. "I think I had the best breaking ball Ive had all year," Verlander said. "It was really sharp. It was good. I was able to go to it when I wanted to and throw it for strikes." The right-hander had been tagged for 10 earned runs in his last three starts, a bothersome little skid as the playoffs approach. He also entered the night with a pedestrian 13-12 record and 3.66 ERA that is ordinary by his standards. Maybe an outing against the meagre Twins offence will be enough to get him back in the groove. It was Verlanders third double-digit strikeout game of the season, and first since he fanned 13 Pirates on May 27. Mike Pelfrey gave up one run on six hits with five strikeouts and three walks in six innings for the Twins. "The math doesnt change," Leyland said. "Somehow weve got to win two games." NOTES: Prince Fielder played in his 500th straight game. ... The Indians open a series against the White Sox in Cleveland on Tuesday. ... Twins OF Oswaldo Arcia was a late scratch when he bruised his right knee after running into the wall while chasing down a fly ball in batting practice. ... The Twins struck out at least 10 times for the 60th time this season. The previous team high was 26 in 2001. ... Tigers RHP Doug Fister (13-9, 3.71 ERA) will take the mound Tuesday night against Twins LHP Scott Diamond (6-11, 5.54). Cheap Adidas NHL Jerseys . Still, Milan remained five points behind city rival Inter Milan in the race for fifth place and the final Europa League berth, after Inter beat 10-man Parma 2-0. Meanwhile, Paul Pogba led the way as Juventus stayed on course for a third consecutive title with a 1-0 win over relegation-threatened Bologna. Wholesale NHL Jerseys . And rest hardly led to rust for the two-time defending NBA champions. https://www.chinanhljerseys.us/ . "This isnt really the week you want to lose Chris Greaves," fellow lineman Glenn January said Wednesday after practice. Greaves is expected to miss several weeks after suffering a knee injury in last weeks 36-28 win over the Ottawa Redblacks. Wholesale NHL Jerseys China .com) - Semyon Varlamov more than earned his third shutout of the season as he made a career-high 54 saves to lift the Colorado Avalanche to a 2-0 win over the Chicago Blackhawks on Tuesday. Discount NHL Jerseys . The Leafs were back on the ice Wednesday following an 10-day break. It apparently wasnt long enough, as Team Canadas 2-1 win over Latvia didnt conclude before the Leafs began practice. "I was thinking we might get a little delay, but it was nice to get out there," said Tyler Bozak of watching Wednesdays game.CLEVELAND - The game featured eight goals and seven fights, and the Hamilton Bulldogs won their sixth straight on the road, beating the Lake Erie Monsters 6-2 in American Hockey League action on Saturday. Joonas Nattinen scored the winning goal for Hamilton (20-17-4) in the first period just 12 seconds after Paul Carey tied it for the Monsters (17-20-3) with his second of the game. Sven Andrighetto and Christiaan Thomas also scored for the Bulldogs in the opening period.dddddddddddd Joel Chouinard and Martin St. Pierre scored 34 seconds apart in the second period to make 5-2. Gabriel Dumont added a short-handed goal in the third. Robert Mayer made 28 saves for Hamilton, while Calvin Pickard turned back 30 shots for the Monsters. The Bulldogs were 0 for 6 on the power play, and Lake Erie was 1 for 6. ' ' '