Beneficial.

There are games in which he's flat-out spectacular, of course. You've all seen many of those.

But when the going gets tough, that's when it is most beneficial for the Tigers to have Justin Verlander on the mound.

Improving his record in his last 18 starts to 14-2 —and to 17-5 overall —Verlander wasn't at his best Thursday night, but he proved stingy enough to help the Tigers get out of town with a victory over the scrappy Cleveland Indians. A 4-3 victory, in fact, that enabled the first-place Tigers to drop the second-place Indians to three games back in the American League Central — and keep the third-place White Sox at four games out.

Verlander threw only 108 pitches, his lowest amount since May 24, before the Tigers went to their bullpen after seven innings. He allowed three runs on three hits and three walks while striking out 10.

But what he did best was to keep the Indians off the board after they crept to within a run in the third. He earned his 100th career win in the process.

Read the rest at The Detroit News.

Verlander is HIGHLY beneficial!