CLEVELAND -- Victor Martinez and the Detroit Tigers found a way to pick up Justin Verlander. Verlander won his 10th straight start and earned his 22nd victory overall, helped when Martinez hit a late grand slam that sent the Tigers over the Cleveland Indians 8-6 Wednesday. The AL Central-leading Tigers completed a three-game sweep and won their sixth in a row. "What a great win," said Verlander, who leaped off the bench and cheered Martinezs shot that highlighted a five-run rally in the seventh inning. "When he hit it, I said, Its that kind of year." Verlander (22-5) gave up a pair of two-run homers to Shelley Duncan and trailed 4-2 before Detroit rallied against Justin Masterson (11-9) and the Indians bullpen. Verlander leads the majors in wins and is 20-2 since May 1. He gave up four runs and three hits in six innings, striking out eight. "My stuff was not as crisp as it has been," Verlander said. "The two pitches to Duncan were pretty good, where I wanted them. Guys in this league get paid to hit it, too." "Once again, our team came through in a huge way. They got big hits and Im always extremely confident in our bullpen," he said. Verlander is the first Detroit pitcher to win 10 consecutive decisions since Jack Morris in 1983, and first to win 10 straight starts since Hall of Famer Hal Newhouser in 1946. His 22 wins are the most for a Detroit pitcher since Joe Coleman went 23-15 in 1973. "They didnt get many hits off him, just a couple out of the ballpark," manager Jim Leyland said. Jose Valverde pitched a perfect ninth for his 42nd save, tying Todd Jones team record set in 2000. Valverde has not blown a save this year. "Thats his job and hes doing it pretty well," Leyland said. "Dont forget what (Joaquin) Benoit did in the eighth." The Tigers setup man struck out two in a perfect inning and has a 1.58 earned-run average over his last 43 outings. Martinez went 5 for 13 with two homers and 10 RBIs in the sweep of his former team as Detroit dropped Cleveland 9 1-2 games back. The Tigers are 16-4 since Aug. 19, going 6-0 against Cleveland and sweeping three in a row from the Chicago White Sox to take command of the division. "They took care of business and, obviously, we didnt," Indians manager Manny Acta said. "Theyre doing a great job running away from us." Leyland isnt ready to celebrate. "Have we accomplished something? Absolutely," he said. "So far weve met a head-on challenge pretty good. I told them, Have a good day off (Thursday). You earned it. But get ready to play Friday because nobody is going to give us anything." Masterson left after Detroit loaded the bases on two singles around Duncans error at first base in the seventh. Joe Smith came on and yielded Miguel Cabreras RBI single that got the Tigers within 4-3. Lefty Tony Sipp replaced Smith and the switch-hitting Martinez turned around to the right side and hit the first pitch into the left-field seats for his second career slam, both against the Indians. The first was Oct. 3, 2009, for Boston, a couple of months after Cleveland traded him to the Red Sox. "Its not just because its against the Indians, I always want to do my best," Martinez said. Martinez, Cabrera and Alex Avila each had two of Detroits 13 hits. The Tigers have had 10 or more hits in 11 of their last 13 games and 31 of 51 games since the All-Star break. "We were kind of up and down for a while and are starting to hit our stride," Verlander said. Duncan had his second two-homer game this week and fourth of his career. He also did it Sunday in Kansas City. He came in just 2 for 11 (.182) with four strikeouts in his career against Verlander before connecting in the second for a 2-0 lead. The two runs were more than the Indians scored in seven of Mastersons starts this year. Detroit tied it at 2 in the fourth. Cabrera singled with one out for the Tigers first hit and was doubled to third by Martinez. Cabrera scored on a sacrifice fly by Avila and Wilson Betemit doubled home Martinez. Jim Thome lined a two-out double high off the wall in left-centre in the Indians fourth. Duncan followed with his eighth homer, a towering shot to left for a 4-2 lead. Lonnie Chisenhalls two-run homer off Tigers reliever Phil Coke got Cleveland within 7-6 in the bottom of the seventh. Don Kellys RBI triple made it 8-6 in the ninth. NOTES: Verlander has thrown at least six innings and 100 pitches in all 31 starts this season. ... Fans sitting in a dreary drizzle throughout the game got a few laughs in the middle innings as a squirrel darted around the outfield. ... Indians DH Travis Hafner, out since Aug. 22 with a strained tendon in his right foot, ran in the outfield before the game. "Just straight ahead, nothing lateral, but Im feeling better," he said. ... Detroit is 21-10 on the road since July 6, best in the AL. ... Cabrera has hit .391 with 26 RBIs while reaching base safely in a career-high 34 consecutive games, the longest streak by a Tigers player since Damion Easleys 34-game streak in 1998. ... The Tigers are off Thursday before playing host to Minnesota for three games. ... The Indians start a four-game set in Chicago on Thursday in a chase for second place. LHP David Huff (2-3) will oppose White Sox RHP Gavin Floyd (12-10). . The Boston Celtics never let them rest easy in the opener. Nowitzki led another balanced scoring effort with 19 points, and the Mavericks held off several Boston runs in a 94-89 victory against the Celtics on Monday night. [url=http://www.portugalsoccerteamshop.com/World-Cup-Fabio-Coentrao-Portugal-Jer... Coentrao Jersey . Tuesday night marked the Toronto Maple Leafs starting goaltenders first game back after missing five straight with a groin injury. . -- The Anaheim Ducks have signed defenceman Bryan Rodney to a one-year contract. [url=http://www.portugalsoccerteamshop.com/World-Cup-Andre-Almeida-Portugal-Jers... Almeida World Cup Jersey . Cristiano Ronaldo put Madrid in charge with his league-leading 27th goal of the season in the 14th minute, but Sevilla striker Carlos Bacca scored twice, in the 19th and 73rd, to complete the comeback. Madrids loss at the Sanchez Pizjuan Stadium came four days after it squandered a chance to effectively end Barcelonas title defence, with Lionel Messi out-dueling Ronaldo by scoring a hat trick for a thrilling 4-3 win in the Spanish capital.NEW ORLEANS - Having shed their long-held reputation for losing with bumbling ineptitude, the New Orleans Saints open the playoffs as the Super Bowl contenders they expected to be. Maybe even a little better. Drew Brees broke some of the most prestigious passing records there are and the Saints (13-3) matched their franchise-best regular-season record from their 2009 Super Bowl campaign while also going unbeaten at home for the first time in their 45-year history. "In the big picture, if we were to win the Super Bowl this year, it would be looked at as that era when the Saints were dominating," safety Malcolm Jenkins said. "But weve got to get there first." The road begins Saturday night in the Superdome against the Detroit Lions, who in recent seasons looked a lot more like the old Saints, even reaching a new low with a historic 0-16 season in 2008. You can watch the game live on CTV at 4:30pm et/1:30pm pt. You can also follow the Game Day blog on TSN.ca, and listen to the action live on TSN Radio in Toronto, Winnipeg and Montreal. Now one of the oldest franchises is in the role of playoff neophyte. The Lions (10-6) havent been to the post-season since 1999 and therefore have to earn some playoff credibility, much like the Saints did six years ago. "I remember being the team that didnt have any playoff experience or pedigree and was coming from a place where wed perennially lost, and now all of a sudden we were in the playoffs," said Saints right tackle Zach Strief, referring to the 2006 season when New Orleans went 10-6 with then-rookie coach Sean Payton, one season after going 3-13. "I remember playing the Philadelphia Eagles, a team that at that point was a powerhouse in the NFC. The thing that you realize is, sometimes that hunger that comes from not being in the playoffs a lot plays to your advantage." Indeed, the Saints beat the Eagles before falling the next week in the NFC championship game at Chicago. The Saints became an inspiration to storm-weary New Orleans back then, similar to how the Lions have boosted morale in Michigan, a state synonymous with economic hardship in recent years. "Definitely the phone has been blowing up this week," said Lions tight end Tony Scheffler, who grew up about an hour from Detroit. "A lot of people are on our side and are happy that this organization is back in the playoffs." Added star receiver Calvin Johnson: "Its definitely exciting to have more to play for. ... We finally made it." Odds makers dont expect the Lions to play beyond this week, however, installing the Saints as 10-point favourites. It would seem that the Saints are the last team anyone would wantt to play right now.dddddddddddd The NFL records they set this season included yards passing by a team (5,505) and a quarterback (Brees 5,476). The Saints also set a record for total offensive yards with 7,474. The Saints already were a good offence but got even better both in that area and on special teams with Darren Sproles, who set an NFL mark for all-purpose yards with 2,696. Brees 71.2 completion percentage broke his own record from 2009. Meanwhile, during their eight-game winning streak, which included a 31-17 victory over Detroit on Dec. 4, the Saints defence consistently made enough timely stops to hold five opponents below 20 points and all of them to no more than 24, which is plenty good enough for an offence that averaged 34.2 points. Strief said he could not recall the Saints playing so well for such a sustained period, noting that their 13-game winning streak to open 2009 included a couple of unlikely comeback victories in which the Saints got some breaks. "Some of those wins had a feeling of destiny," Strief said. "I dont think that necessarily is the feeling right now. I think the feeling in this locker room now is that we are playing really good football." Fiery Lions coach Jim Schwartz is quick to compliment New Orleans, but did not seem inclined to complain about drawing the Saints in the first round. "We are very glad to be in the situation that we are in," Schwartz said. "Its been a long time coming for this organization. ... The team that is going to win on Saturday is the team that plays best on Saturday at 7 oclock for 60 minutes. It is not going to be based on what happens eight weeks before or any stats. That is the great thing about playoff football." Detroit gave New Orleans one of its tougher games this season and the outcome might have been closer if not for a slew of penalties that cost the Lions more than 100 yards. In addition, Detroit was without ferocious defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh, safety Louis Delmas and cornerback Chris Houston, who are slated to play this time. The Lions have game-breaking players of their own including Johnson, who led the NFL with 1,681 yards receiving and led the NFC with 16 TDs receiving. "You know what? Weve got some pretty good players, too," Schwartz said. "Weve got some players that can give some other teams some problems. "The point is, we earned our way into the playoffs also and we did it by winning and putting good players on the field and we need to worry about ourselves. We need to respect our opponent, but not so much worry about what records they set this year." ___ AP Sports Writer Larry Lage in Allen Park, Mich., contributed to this report. ' ' '