The Tigers had already won the series against the Chicago White Sox, but a sweep would be better, so they sent ace Justin Verlander out there Sunday night to get it. And he did, throwing eight dominant innings, striking out 11.

It left the two teams tied atop the American League Central standings. Last time these two teams met here, the Tigers also swept, putting them in first place.

It was a statement to an extent.

“We just gotta continue to play good baseball. We feel like we made this statement last time, and obviously we didn’t continue to play great. I think we just need to maintain the intensity we had this series. I think guys showed that our ability to play clutch is really good. We had guys that put up great at-bats, guys that pitched extremely well. I think we just need to realize we need to take that intensity into every game,” Verlander said.

“You can’t say you’re going to take a playoff-type intensity into every game of the season. That’s not possible. But coming down to this time of year, there’s no reason to leave anything out there. We’ve got to find a way.”

Here's the rest of Verlander's postgame session: