Verlander has been obscenely good and probably would have started for the AL in the All-Star Game but was ineligible to pitch since he had last Sunday. Verlander is 12-4 with a 2.15 ERA; he is second in the AL in wins and complete games (four) and leads the all of baseball in innings (151.0) and strikeouts (147, tied with the Dodgers’ Clayton Kershaw). He is the first Tigers pitcher to accumulate 12 wins prior to the All-Star break since Jack Morris in 1987. Verlander has an active streak of seven starts in which he has gone at least seven innings while allowing one earned run or fewer. That is tied with Chris Carpenter in 2005 for the longest streak of its kind since 2000.

Meanwhile, Tigers slugger Miguel Cabrera will play tonight. Cabrera left Tuesday night’s All-Star Game with a mild oblique strain, but manager Jim Leyland said he is star was fine. The first baseman is hitting .311 with 18 home runs and 59 RBIs this season.

The White Sox are 44-48 entering the second half and five games out of first in the division. It’s the first time since 2007 that Chicago entered the break below .500. Tonight’s game marks the eighth of 19 straight games against the Central for the White Sox. They are 2-5 through the first seven. The Pale Hose start Gavin Floyd (6-9, 4.59) tonight. He has been slumping as he is in a six-start winless skid, in which he is 0-4 with a 6.14 ERA.

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