Justin Verlander struck out a career-high 14 in his latest masterful performance, and the Detroit Tigers beat the Arizona Diamondbacks 6-0 on Saturday night.

Verlander (10-3) allowed four hits over eight innings, and Alex Avila's three-run homer in the fourth broke the game open. The Tigers pulled into a virtual tie with Cleveland atop the AL Central.

The Diamondbacks fell a half-game behind first-place San Francisco in the NL West.

Verlander walked only one batter. In the eighth inning, he reached 100 miles per hour on the stadium scoreboard -- on his 116th pitch.

Arizona rookie Josh Collmenter (4-4), from the town of Homer in
south-central Michigan, allowed six runs and 10 hits in six-plus
innings.