DETROIT _ Cameron Maybin kept running. So did Justin Upton. And by the time Tyler Collins ran home in the bottom of the ninth, the Detroit Tigers had a dramatic win.
Maybin scored from first base on a muffed pop-up by Houston Astros second baseman Jose Altuve. After Justin Verlander couldn't complete the shutout job, allowing two runs in the ninth inning, Upton scored on a two-out single by James McCann.
Then, Jose Iglesias beat out a soft groundball to first base and the Tigers beat the Astros, 3-2.
Maybin's crazy concoction of a run in the sixth inning _ scoring on a Miguel Cabrera pop-up _ was a precursor of things to come a few innings later, and appeared all ace right-hander Justin Verlander would need until the ninth inning, when the Astros spoiled Verlander's bid for an eighth career shutout.
George Springer led off with a single. Two batters later, Altuve singled. Then Correa flipped his bat at a good Verlander breaking ball to complete a great at-bat with an RBI single. Colby Rasmus followed with an RBI groundout.
Verlander allowed two runs on five hits in nine innings for his 23rd career complete game. He struck out double-digit batters for the fifth time this season and walked one.
Verlander leads the AL in innings pitched and is tied for the lead in strikeouts.
Up until the ninth inning, it looked like his most dominant performance of the season. The only real trouble he faced was early on, in the first inning, when Altuve singled and Correa doubled off the left-center-field wall. After that, Verlander retired 16 straight before Altuve walked to lead-off the seventh inning.
To open the ninth inning, manager Brad Ausmus held full faith in Verlander: The tarp was on the bullpen mound and closer Francisco Rodriguez was not warming up.
Verlander could not finish the job in the ninth, but the Tigers offense couldn't so much as get a job started against Astros right-hander Mike Fiers. They totaled one unearned run _ Maybin's wild ride around the bases _ on four hits over 61/3 innings against Fiers. He exited with runners on base for Pat Neshek, who retired both McCann and Iglesias.
The Tigers totaled two baserunners against the Astros' bullpen, both in the ninth inning, when Upton walked with two outs, followed by a Collins single. McCann then singled to right field to take Verlander off the hard-luck hook.
On the game-winning play, Iglesias hit a high chopper to first base. Tyler White shuffled it to Astros closer Will Harris, but it was too late. Iglesias beat him to the bag and after a short review, the Tigers jumped ahead of the Astros in the American League wild-card standings.
