Justin Verlander struck out 10 and won his major league-high 17th game as the Detroit Tigers defeated the host Cleveland Indians 4-3 on Thursday.

Verlander (17-5) gave up three runs and three hits in seven innings while winning his fifth straight start as Detroit salvaged the finale of the three-game series.

Austin Jackson’s suicide-squeeze bunt in the second inning capped a three-run inning and was the decisive run for the Tigers, who moved three games ahead of the Indians in the American League Central.

Verlander raised his major league-leading strikeout total to 196 as Detroit snapped a 13-game road losing streak at Cleveland.

Joaquin Benoit struck out two in the eighth and Jose Valverde worked a perfect ninth for his club-record 33rd consecutive save.

Valverde hasn’t blown a save all season. Willie Hernandez held the old mark of 32 straight saves during the Tigers’ 1984 championship season.

Detroit’s Magglio Ordonez had a sacrifice fly in the first inning and Alex Avila and Wilson Betemit had run-scoring singles in the second prior to Jackson’s squeeze bunt.

Carlos Santana homered in the bottom of the second and Asdrubal Cabrera hit a two-run double in the third for the Indians.

Fausto Carmona (5-12) gave up four runs (three earned) and seven hits in seven innings.