Tigers Maintain 2.5 Game Lead in Central; Twins Keep Pace With Win

Tigers 3, Indians 1. More from SBNation’s game recap:

Edwin Jackson pitched seven strong shutout innings to lead the Detroit Tigers to a 3-1 win over the Cleveland Indians in the opener of a three-game series at Progressive Field.

Jackson (13-7) allowed seven hits, struck out two batters and issued three walks for the Tigers, whose win on Sunday at Minnesota avoided what would have been a very costly weekend sweep. With this victory, the Tigers remained 2 1/2 games ahead of the Twins atop the AL Central after Minnesota defeated the White Sox on Tuesday.

“Edwin was just what the doctor ordered,” said Tigers manger Jim Leyland. “He pitched excellent, and the bullpen came in and did a good job. It was a good ball game for us.”

Ryan Raburn homered and Magglio Ordonez finished 3-for-3 in the victory

With Detroit having already won earlier in the night, it was essential that Minnesota emerge victorious against the White Sox. Which they did, winning 8-6:

Orlando Cabrera hit a two-run homer while Michael Cuddyer also homered and finished with three hits and two runs scored, as the Minnesota Twins kept pace in the AL Central race with an 8-6 win over the Chicago White Sox in the middle installment of a three-game series at U.S. Cellular Field. The win marked the 700th career managerial victory for Ron Gardenhire.[…]

Jason Kubel and Matt Tolbert also homered for the Twins, who remained 2 1/2 games behind the Tigers in the divisional race. Detroit topped Cleveland earlier Tuesday.

“All we can control is to go out and win as many games as we can,” said Twins closer Joe Nathan. “What they (Tigers) do right now is out of our control.” […]

Twins starter Jeff Manship lasted only 2 1/3 innings and gave up four runs on five hits.