Get this, Justin Verlander said he felt better Tuesday night than he had in a while.It sure is a great time to play for the Detroit Tigers.Verlander pitched seven strong innings to earn his major league-best 23rd win and the Tigers blanked the White Sox 5-0 for their 11th consecutive victory.Verlander (23-5) allowed six hits, struck out six and walked two while becoming the first Tiger since Hal Newhouser in 1946 to win 11 consecutive starts and the AL’s first 23-game winner since Barry Zito in 2002.That’s a scary statement for the rest of the American League.Verlander improved to 11-0 with a 2.51 ERA since his last loss on July 15 in at U.S.Cellular Field, his only defeat in 15 decisions against AL Central opponents this season.

“He’s the best pitcher I’ve ever had,” manager Jim Leyland said. “I’ll leave it at that.”

Victor Martinez hit a three-run homer for AL Central-leading Detroit, buoyed by its longest winning streak since September 1968. Miguel Cabrera had two doubles, walked twice and scored two runs.Gavin Floyd (12-11) gave up four runs and four hits in 5 1/3 innings, falling to 6-2 with a 3.68 ERA in 17 career starts against Detroit.Brent Morel doubled and walked twice. Alex Rios had three singles.

“When you face a pitcher of that caliber you’ve got to get it done before he starts to make his pitch,” White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen said. “He throws every pitch in any count. The guy throws 98 and he’ll throw you a 3-2 breaking ball. I don’t think you can do much about that.”

Detroit has won five straight against the White Sox and reduced its magic number to win the Central to four over Cleveland. The Tigers have outscored the Sox 54-15 during the streak.Cabrera doubled and scored in the second, and the Tigers added three more in the sixth. With one out and a runner on third, Cabrera was intentionally walked before Martinez sent a 3-2 pitch over the Detroit bullpen in right.Martinez battled Floyd for nine pitches, fouling off five, before going deep in the game’s most important at-bat.Floyd walked the next two batters and threw a wild pitch before being pulled after 98 pitches.For the second straight start, Verlander allowed a number of baserunners and foul balls early in the game to drive up his pitch count, but settled down to pitch through the seventh. He has gone at least six innings and thrown at least 104 pitches in each of his 32 starts this season.The 6-foot-5 right-hander, a front-runner for the AL Cy Young Award, worked out of jams in three of the first four innings. He got Dayan Viciedo on an around-the-horn double play with runners on the corners and one out in the first, then got Gordon Beckham to fly out with two on to end the second.Verlander also struck out Beckham looking with a curveball with two outs and the bases loaded in the fourth.The White Sox were 0 for 6 with runners in scoring position in the game, dropping to 5 for 45 in those situations over their last five games.The Tigers have won 21 of their last 25 games.

NOTES—The annual Roberto Clemente Award nominees were announced on Tuesday. Verlander and Juan Pierre were among the entrants for the award, which recognizes players for positive contributions both on and off the field….The Tigers and White Sox wrap up their series on Wednesday afternoon, with Detroit’s Brad Penny facing Dylan Axelrod. The 25-year-old Axelrod will be making his second big-league appearance and first start….The Sox “Tragic Number” is down to just three to be eliminated.

CINCINNATI—Brandon Phillips homered again, helping Mike Leake and the Cincinnati Reds beat the Cubs 2-1 Tuesday night and end a three-game losing streak.Phillips homered for the third time in two games. He has 15 home runs this year.Mike Leake can look forward to next year thinking about how well he ended this season.Leake pitched eight effective innings, Brandon Phillips homered again and the Cincinnati Reds beat the Chicago Cubs 2-1 Tuesday night to end a three-game losing streak.Leake (12-9) made the majors right out of Arizona State and this is just his second season working out of a five-man rotation. The Reds thought it best to limit his innings and do not plan to pitch him again this year.He finished with 175 innings, with all but seven in the major leagues. He is the Reds’ leader in wins and strikeouts.Leake allowed one run on six hits and two walks and struck out two.Leake pitched a career-high nine innings in his previous start, giving up three hits against the Cubs at Wrigley Field. He took a one-hit shutout into the ninth in that game before giving up Starlin Castro’s two-out infield single and pinch-hitter Bryan LaHair’s tying home run.

“We wanted him to have one more start after that tough ending last time,” manager Dusty Baker said. “He’s matured a lot as a pitcher and a person. He reads bats well, fields his position and is an all-around player. We will limit him to pinch-running and in dire circumstances pinch-hitting.”

Leake was happy with his season, even with a brief demotion to Triple-A Louisville.Phillips homered for the third time in two games. He has 15 home runs this year.Francisco Cordero pitched the ninth for his 33rd save.The Cubs saw their three-game winning streak come to an end while wasting a solid pitching performance by Ryan Dempster (10-12). He allowed two runs and six hits, striking out eight in seven innings.After combining for 27 hits, including seven home runs, and 20 runs in Monday’s 12-8 Chicago win, the Reds and Cubs produced a total of 12 hits and three runs with one homer on Tuesday.Phillips connected in the bottom of the first for his third home run in four at-bats over the last two games.The Reds made it 2-0 in the fifth. Devin Mesoraco drew a leadoff walk, Leake grounded into a forceout, Phillips walked and Edgar Renteria hit an RBI single. Renteria had three hits.Carlos Pena led off the Cubs sixth with a double. He moved to third on LaHair’s soft single to left-center field and scored on Alfonso Soriano’s double-play grounder.

NOTES—Castro walked to lead off the game for the second consecutive night. He has reached base at least once in 26 consecutive games. … LaHair extended his career-opening hitting streak to eight games. … Reds RHP Johnny Cueto, Cincinnati’s scheduled starter on Wednesday, trails Los Angeles LHP Clayton Kershaw in the NL ERA race by .0044 percentage points. Cueto has gone four starts without a decision, including two blown saves. … Cubs scheduled starter, Casey Coleman, hasn’t won in nine appearances, including seven starts, since May 19 at Florida. He is 0-4 in the span.

Jhonny Peralta and Ryan Raburn helped the Tigers knock the White Sox further back in the AL Central race. They ignited the Tigers offense with back-to-back homers in the second inning and Detroit routed the Sox 4-4 for its 10th straight win on Monday night. It’s the Tigers’ first 10-game streak since they won 11 in a row in September 1968 before going on to win the World Series that year.Raburn finished the game with four hits and three RBI and Peralta added two hits and three RBI for the Tigers, who reduced their magic number to six in the AL Central. Detroit starter Rick Porcello (14-8) coasted to an easy victory. He allowed three runs on six hits in 6 2/3 innings. He allowed one of Brent Morel’s two home runs. The Tigers began their win streak with a sweep of the White Sox during a lopsided three-game series Sept. 3-5 in Detroit. The Tigers outscored the Sox 35-11 to sweep that series and continued to embarrass their divisional rival with a 14-run explosion on Tuesday night. The game was eerily familiar to the 18-2 loss on Sept. 4 for the White Sox as their allowed 21 hits Monday night compared to the 24 in the 18-2 loss. Danks (6-12) lasted five innings allowing eight runs, seven earned on 11 hits.Trailing 1-0 in the second inning, Victor Martinez led off with a single against Danks. One out later, Peralta hit a two-run shot to left giving the Tigers lead. On the xt pitch, Raburn hit another ball into left-field seats to make it 3-1. Leading 3-2 in the third, Delmon Young led off with a single and advanced to third on Miguel Cabrera’s ground-rule double to right. Young scored on Alex Avila’s groundout and Cabrera scored on Peralta’s single. It was Peralta’s 19th of the season and Raburn’s 13th. The Tigers added to their lead in the fourth and fifth innings. Jackson walked and advanced to second on a wild pitch then scored on Young’s RBI single. After a leadoff double by Avila, Raburn doubled off the wall in left-center to score Avila. Raburn advanced to third after center fielder Alejandro De Aza bobbled the ball and ended up scoring on Danks’ wild pitch to make it 8-2.The Tigers didn’t stop against reliever Josh Kinney. Kinney was tagged for five consecutive singles in the sixth, including RBI singles by Cabrera, Martinez and Avila to give the Tigers a 11-2 lead. After Peralta’s double play ball, Raburn followed with an RBI single for his fourth hit of the night. With bases loaded and two outs, Ramon Santiago, who came in the game in same inning to pinch-run for Magglio Ordonez, hit an RBI single to make it 14-2. The Tigers batter 11 in the inning and scored six runs on eight hits. Kinney somehow lasted the entire inning despite taking a liner off his back from Brandon Inge and giving up six runs on eight hits.Juan Pierre scored on Dayan Viciedo’s groundout in the first inning and De Aza scored on Gordon Beckham’s groundout in the second inning. Morel hit his seventh homer of the season off reliever David Pauley in the ninth.

NOTES—Tigers RHP Justin Verlander, who is 20-2 since May 1, is Tuesday’s scheduled starter. Verlander leads the majors in wins with 22 and is 20-2 since May 1…..Gavin Floyd is Tuesday’s scheduled starter. In 17 starts against Detroit, he is 6-1 with a 3.51 ERA….Ordonez extended his hitting streak to 13 games….. Jackson extended his hitting streak to 16 games against the White Sox

CINCINNATI—The Cubs’ long night in New York proved to cause no problems in Cincinnati.Starlin Castro homered, scored four runs and drove in three while extending his career-high hitting streak to 13 games and the Cubs shook off their fatigue to pound out a 12-8 win over the Cincinnati Reds in the opener of a four-game series on Monday. The Cubs needed 11 innings to beat the Mets 10-6 on Sunday night and didn’t arrive in Cincinnati until 5:30 a.m. Monday, but they still managed to get 16 hits, including three home runs and five doubles. Aramis Ramirez also had three hits, including a double and his 25th homer of the season, and Jeff Baker added a home run as the Cubs won a third consecutive game for the first time since Aug. 15 and matched their season high in runs. They also scored 12 in a 12-7 win over Milwaukee on June 16. Brandon Phillips hit two of Cincinnati’s four home runs and Juan Francisco hit a tape-measure shot, but the Reds couldn’t avoid their third consecutive loss and fourth in five games.Rodrigo Lopez lasted 5 1/3 innings to earn the win despite allowing nine hits, including all four of Cincinnati’s homers, and five runs. Lopez (5-6) had a walk and a strikeout. The Cubs pounced on Cincinnati starter Dontrelle Willis for three first-inning runs and knocked him out of the game in the fourth. Willis (0-6) gave up for nine hits and eight runs, one short of tying his career high, and walked three.Francisco got the Reds on the board with his third homer of the season, a mammoth drive off of Lopez’s 1-0 pitch in the second inning. The 502-foot shot was second-longest at Great American Ball Park since it opened in 2003 to Adam Dunn’s 535-foot shot to right-center in 2004. Somebody told him the ball hit a tree outside the stadium. Willis followed one out later with a vicious line-drive single off of Baker’s glove at first base, and Brandon Phillips — who got his first day off on Sunday since Aug. 13 — hit his 13th homer, a 459-foot shot into the second deck in left field. The Cubs regained the lead in the third on Baker’s third homer of the season, a 372-foot opposite-field drive into the second row of the right-field seats. They broke the game open with three runs in the fourth, the first scoring on the first of Castro’s two doubles in the game. He added a two-run homer in the fifth, and Ramirez led off the sixth with his 25th homer of the season. Phillips led off the Reds’ fifth with his second homer of the game, giving him two multihomer games this season and eight in his career, and rookie catcher Devin Mesoraco hit the first pitch of the sixth inning into the left field seats for his first career home run.

NOTES—Redds IF Chris Valaika will have season-ending surgery next week to repair a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee. He was hurt in the top of the fifth inning Sunday at Colorado when his spikes caught in the dirt as he was swinging at a pitch from LHP Drew Pomeranz. … SS Zack Cozart, already sidelined with Tommy John surgery on his left (non-throwing) elbow, is scheduled to have minor surgery to clean out his right ankle. … RHP Mike Leake’s start Tuesday against the Cubs is expected to be his final start of the season. Leake has logged 159.2 innings, 21.1 more than he pitched last season, and the club is trying to limit him to an increase of about 30 innings. …Ryan Dempster, the Cubs scheduled starter on Tuesday, is 2-0 with a 3.00 ERA in his last three starts against the Reds.

 　Remembering September 11th

NEW YORK—Carlos Pena hit a go-ahead single in a six-run 11th inning, and the Cubs beat New York 10-6 on Sunday night in a game that ended nearly five hours after the Mets held a touching ceremony to mark the 10th anniversary of the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11.The Mets’ disappointing finish came with nearly all of the 33,502 fans – several thousand first responders and their families receiving free tickets – long gone from a game that started at 8:20 p.m. There was a 24-minute pregame tribute to victims of the attacks, their families and many of the first responders that worked tirelessly at the World Trade Center site in 2001.Making just his sixth big league appearance, Josh Stinson (0-1), the Mets’ seventh of nine pitchers, walked Marlon Byrd to start the 11th and gave up a single to Bryan LaHair. Pena singled for the lead.The Cubs took two of three from the Mets and next play the Reds in Cincinnati Monday.

 　Remembering September 11th

As opening arguments go, the Bears sure made a strong one.All doubters that they’re contenders in the NFC should consider Sunday’s rout of the Atlanta Falcons. Brian Urlacher had an interception and returned a fumble for a touchdown, Jay Cutler threw for 312 yards and two scores and the Bears pounded Matt Ryan and the Falcons 30-12. “Big for us,” receiver Roy Williams said. “Big confidence booster for us as a football team. We knew what we can do offensively. We knew what we can do defensively. But to put it together, especially against a good football team in Atlanta, shows what kind of football team we have.”

In a matchup between reigning division champions, it was no contest. This one clearly belonged to the Bears.A lunging Urlacher picked off Ryan’s pass to set up an early 56-yard touchdown catch and run by Matt Forte. In the third quarter, the linebacker picked up a fumble by Ryan and scored from 12 yards to make it 30-6. The fumble came on one of two sacks by Julius Peppers. Henry Melton also had two sacks and the Bears totaled five for the day.Cutler completed 22 of 32 passes and was intercepted once in his first game at Soldier Field since the Bears’ loss to Green Bay in the NFC championship. He left that game with a knee injury and was roundly criticized. He was sacked four times Sunday, but had a 107.8 quarterback rating as the Bears defending NFC North champions passed a big test. The schedule doesn’t get easier with games against the past two Super Bowl champions coming up — at New Orleans next week and then Green Bay at home — but the Bears certainly looked strong in this one. Forte, seeking a contract extension, turned a short screen into a long TD in the first quarter, and caught five passes in all for 90 yards. He also carried 16 times for 68 yards.Devin Hester had three catches for 60 yards. He turned a swing pass into a 53-yard gain and got stopped just short of the goal line, setting up a 1-yard TD catch by Matt Spaeth that put the Bears ahead 23-6 midway through the third quarter. Urlacher put away the game with his fumble return. Williams caught four passes for 55 yards in his Bears debut before leaving with a groin injury in the fourth quarter.

“We still have to play up to the defense’s level,” Cutler said. “They’re still carrying us.”

Ryan completed 31 of 47 passes for 319 yards for Atlanta, but he also had those two costly turnovers. Michael Turner ran for 100 yards, including a 53-yarder, but the 2010 NFC South champions never established any kind of rhythm. It was certainly not the sort of performance they had in mind, coming off a 13-win season that ended with a blowout loss to the Packers in the playoffs.On the 10th anniversary of the terrorist attacks, there were large 9/11 ribbons at the 25-yard lines. The coin used for the pregame toss had the same ribbon on one side with a Bears “C” on the other.There was a video narrated by Robert DeNiro, a live simulcast of the trumpeter performing Taps in Shanksville, Pa., and a moment of silence. A loud “USA! USA!” chant broke out as a flag stretching from goal line to goal line was unfurled.Urlacher’s lunging interception at the Bear 29 on a pass intended for Tony Gonzalez and Forte’s big touchdown three plays later — when he caught the screen pass and bounced off Atlanta’s Sean Weatherspoon — were two of the early highlights as the Bears built a 16-3 halftime lead.Urlacher said he was surprised Ryan threw that pass. Ryan said he should have just thrown it away, and on the fumble, he just didn’t protect the ball.

NOTES—Williams had little to say about the groin, other than he’ll get treatment and “see what happens.”….The Bears also lost starting RG Lance Louis to an ankle injury….With Marion Barber sidelined by a calf injury, Kahlil Bell moved into the No. 2 slot at running back and carried 10 times for 24 yards

  Remembering September 11th

Ozzie Guillen won’t admit it,but elimination for the White Sox is getting closer.Ubaldo Jimenez threw six effective innings, Luis Valbuena homered and the Cleveland Indians beat the White Sox 7-3 on Sunday.Valbuena also singled twice and scored two runs as the Indians collected 14 hits. Trevor Crowe had three singles, and Jason Donald and Lonnie Chisenhall added two hits apiece.Jimenez (3-2) issued five walks, but allowed just two runs and three hits. The right-hander, who was acquired from Colorado before the July 31 trade deadline, struck out two and improved to 2-1 with a 3.12 ERA over his last four outings.White Sox starter Zach Stewart (2-4) yielded three runs and seven hits over five innings in his first outing since he tossed a one-hitter at Minnesota last Monday.The Indians broke it open with three runs in the eighth against Matt Thornton. Donald drove in a run with an infield hit and Carlos Santana lashed a two-run double to right.Alejandro De Aza went 2 for 3, scored two runs and stole two bases. Juan Pierre and Alexei Ramirez each singled twice and drove in a run.Stewart set down his first five batters before Cleveland put together a two-out rally in the second. The Indians strung together four straight hits, highlighted by Crowe’s RBI single and Lou Marson’s two-run double.It was Crowe’s first hit and RBI of the season. After starting 106 games in the outfield for Cleveland in 2010, Crowe had shoulder surgery on March 30 and was activated on Wednesday.The Bears responded with two runs in the third. De Aza led off with a single and stole second and third, then scored on Gordon Beckham’s fielder’s choice. Beckham eventually came around on Ramirez’s fielder’s choice, trimming the Indians’ lead to 3-2.Beckham has driven in runs in consecutive games for the first time since he had RBI in five straight outings sandwiched around the All-Star break. Jimenez walked the bases full in the fourth, the last of the free passes issued to Brent Morel, who has drawn seven of his 14 walks this season since Sept. 1. Jimenez got Beckham on a grounder to third to escape the threat.The White Sox also left the bases full four times on Saturday.Valbuena hit a solo drive off Will Ohman in the sixth, making it 4-2 Tribe. It was Valbuena’s first extra-base hit and RBI this season.

NOTES—Jake Peavy will not pitch again this season. The 2007 NL Cy Young Award winner will rest in an effort to come back at full strength in 2012. Peavy had shoulder surgery last season. Rookie Dylan Axelrod will start in Peavy’s place on Wednesday. … The Indians activated DH Travis Hafner (strained right foot) from the disabled list. Manager Manny Acta said Hafner will split time at DH with Jim Thome for the remainder of the season. … The White Sox will try to keep their slim playoff hopes alive when they open a three-game series against AL Central-leading Detroit at U.S. Cellular Field on Monday. Rick Porcello will face John Danks in the opener. … The Indians’ 10-game trip continues with a stop in Texas on Monday for the opener of a three-game set. Justin Masterson will start for Cleveland against Matt Harrison.

ANN ARBOR—Denard Robinson stunned Notre Dame in the final minute again.He threw a 16-yard pass to Roy Roundtree with 2 seconds left, lifting Michigan to a 35-31 heart-pounding win over Notre Dame on Saturday night.The Wolverines took their first lead on Robinson’s 21-yard pass to Vincent Smith with 1:12 left, then lost it.Briefly.Tommy Rees threw a 29-yard touchdown pass to Theo Riddick with 30 seconds left, but the Fighting Irish left Jeremy Gallon wide open on a pass that let Michigan go from its 20 to the Notre Dame 16.The Wolverines (2-0) have won three straight against the rival Irish (1-1) on late-game plays by their quarterbacks. Last year at Notre Dame, Robinson ran for a touchdown with 27 seconds left and Forcier threw a TD pass against the Irish two years ago with 11 seconds left.The Wolverines have won three straight over Notre Dame for the first time since 1908. The first night game Michigan Stadium lived up to the hype.Robinson didn’t match his game last year against Notre Dame, when he had a school-record 502 yards, but Notre Dame couldn’t stop him when it mattered.He was 11 of 24 for 338 yards with four TDs and three interceptions and ran 11 times for 108 yards and a score.That one came on a fortunate bounce, when he scooped up Stephen Hopkins’ fumble inside the Notre Dame 1 and trotted in. Junior Hemingway, wearing a patch on his No. 21 jersey in honor of Desmond Howard, caught three passes for 165 yards and a TD. Notre Dame was doomed by turnovers for the second straight week.Rees threw two interceptions, one near the end zone, fumbled deep in Michigan territory. Cierre Wood, who gave Notre Dame a 14-0 lead in the first quarter, also fumbled.In his first loss in five starts, Rees was 27 of 39 for 315 yards with three TDs and two interceptions.Wood ran for 134 yards and a score on 25 carries.Michael Floyd caught 13 passes for 159 yards, becoming Notre Dame’s career leader in yards receiving and matched a school record with his 15th 100-yard receiving game.

EVANSTON—Kain Colter delivered again while filling in for star Dan Persa, running for a career-high 109 yards with three touchdowns and throwing for 104 more to lead Northwestern to a 42-21 victory over Eastern Illinois on Saturday.With Persa in uniform but still recovering from a ruptured Achilles tendon, Colter came through with another impressive performance after leading the Wildcats to a 24-17 win at Boston College in the opener.The sophomore wound up with more than 100 yards rushing for the second time in his career. He took a big hit to the right shoulder from Nick Beard on an 8-yard TD run early in the third quarter but came back in after sitting out one series.When he wasn’t running by the Panthers (1-1), he completed 10 of 13 passes without an interception to lead Northwestern (2-0) to an easy win over an FCS opponent.Bryce McNaul had an interception on the game’s first possession, setting up Colter’s first TD run, and the Wildcats never really looked back.They racked up 437 yards in all and 320 on the ground while running away with this one.NU paid tribute to the 9/11 attacks by painting the big “N” at midfield and on its helmets red, white and blue instead of the usual purple. Flight crews from United and American airlines were on hand, as were members of the Evanston police and fire departments, and a large flag was unfurled on the field before a moment of silence.Once the game started, it didn’t take long for Northwestern to take the lead. McNaul picked off the Panthers’ Jimmy Garoppolo on the game’s fourth play from scrimmage, setting up a 5-yard touchdown run by Colter. Back-to-back fumbled snaps by Garoppolo on the next possession stalled a drive to the Wildcats 26, and Northwestern responded by going 65 yards the other way, with Jacob Schmidt running it in from the 1.Just like that, the Cats were up 14-0 and on their way.The only glitch came midway through second quarter, when Jeff Budzien missed a 45-yard field goal, and Garoppolo connected with a wide open Kenny Whittaker on a 72-yard touchdown that briefly made it a seven-point game. Colter responded with a 4-yard touchdown run, and Treyvon Green made it 28-7 when he ran it in from the 2 with 31 seconds left in the half.Garoppolo threw for 209 yards, but those early mistakes helped set the tone as Eastern Illinois fell to 0-6 against Big Ten teams – all in the last six years.Colter simply tore through the Panthers after throwing for 197 yards and running for 71 with a TD against BC.Persa’s return, meanwhile, remains up in the air, with Northwestern visiting Army next week and Illinois after a bye for its Big Ten opener.Touted by the school as a Heisman candidate, he hasn’t played since he threw the winning touchdown against Iowa last November. He crumbled to the ground as he turned to run to his celebrating teammates and the Wildcats dropped their final three games to finish 7-6.