Justin Verlander finally got the monkey off his back. He looked almost unhittable through stretches of the game, giving up only 4 hits and no walks in a 101 pitch complete game. It was a truly masterful performance. To be fair – Justin looked great last time he pitched against the White Sox, but didn’t get the win. That all changed today, as he finally won a game in Chicago.

He was hammering the White Sox hitters with fastballs all night long. He mixed in a few change-ups here and there, but essentially dominated the Chicago line-up. It was his first complete game since the no hitter against the Brewers last year.

Thames, Guillen and Ordonez all came up big, but it was an at bat by Miguel Cabrera that impressed me the most. After falling behind 0-2, Miggy worked the count and got a lead off walk that took 14 pitches. Good things tend to happen when you make a pitcher waste 14 pitches on a walk.

Well, the win assures Detroit of actually winning the series, but a sweep would be so important right now. After losing Bonderman to the DL for who-knows how long, they need all the wins they can get. It will be interesting to see who takes Bonderman’s spot in the rotation.