Detroit ? Detroit’s Justin Verlander stayed unbeaten in May, and Brandon Inge homered to help the Tigers win, 6-2, on Sunday, completing a sweep of the defending world champion St. Louis Cardinals.

“You wish we would’ve swung the bats like this in the World Series,” said Detroit’s Sean Casey, who was one of the Tigers’ few offensive standouts during the 4-1 series loss last fall. “You wish it was for all the marbles.”

“They’re a different team now, and we’re playing pretty well.”

The Tigers, who split the first two games of the World Series here, outscored the Cardinals 28-14 in the weekend series and remained tied with Cleveland for first in the AL Central division. The Cardinals fell 91â2 games behind NL Central leaders Milwaukee and are off to their worst start since manager Tony LaRussa joined the club in 1996.

Verlander (5-1), last season’s rookie of the year in the AL, pitched eight strong innings to pick up his fourth victory in four May starts.

Indians 5, Reds 3

Cleveland – Paul Byrd stayed unbeaten this season at Jacobs Field, and the Indians matched the best home start in their 107-year history.

Byrd (4-1) improved to 4-0 in Cleveland, and the Indians pushed baseball’s best home record to 16-4. The only other time they started as well in home games was 1995, when the Indians also opened 16-4 – on the way to their first World Series appearance in 41 years.

Marlins 4, Devil Rays 3

St. Petersburg, Fla. – Sergio Mitre allowed three runs over seven innings, and Florida rallied from a three-run deficit to complete a three-game sweep.

Phillies 5, Blue Jays 3

Philadelphia – Adam Eaton pitched four-hit ball over six-plus shutout innings, and Pat Burrell and Aaron Rowand both homered to lead Philadelphia.

Nationals 4, Orioles 3

Washington – Nook Logan’s two-run single off reliever Danys Baez with two outs in the eighth inning capped a comeback and helped Washington.

Brewers 6, Twins 5

Milwaukee – Geoff Jenkins hit his 200th career homer and had five RBIs, including the go-ahead run in the seventh inning, helping Milwaukee rally from a four-run deficit.

The Brewers have not been swept in a series this season.

Rangers 14, Astros 1

Houston – Mark Teixeira and Victor Diaz each hit two of Texas’ season-high six home runs, and Ramon Vazquez also homered and drove in five runs for Texas.

The 14 runs tied a season high for Texas.

Angels 4, Dodgers 1

Anaheim, Calif. – Kelvim Escobar rebounded from his worst outing of the season with eight shutout innings, and the Angels completed a sweep of the three-game interleague series between the division leaders.

White Sox 10, Cubs 6

Chicago – A.J. Pierzynski hit a grand slam in a seven-run seventh inning, and Nick Masset won his first major-league start as the White Sox averted a sweep.

Giants 4, Athletics 1

Oakland, Calif. – Matt Morris pitched a two-hitter and struck out a season-high nine, and San Francisco avoided getting swept in the first interleague installment of the Bay Bridge Series.

Padres 2, Mariners 1

Seattle – Justin Germano held Seattle to an unearned run and six hits in six innings.

Red Sox 6, Braves 3

Boston – Kason Gabbard came up from Triple-A and struck out a career-high seven batters while shutting Atlanta out for the first five innings.

Yankees 6, Mets 2

New York – Tyler Clippard made his major-league debut by striking out Jose Reyes on three pitches and delivered the poised performance the banged-up Yankees needed.

National League

Diamondbacks 5, Pirates 2

Pittsburgh – Randy Johnson, rounding into shape following offseason back surgery, struck out 10 in 52â3 innings to win his second start in a row.