The Tigers broke a tie in the fifth inning, and with rookie phenom Justin Verlander on the mound, there was a lot of work to do.

And that's exactly what the Indians did. The Tribe sent 10 men to the plate in a six-run fifth inning that featured seven hits on the way to defeating the Tigers, 8-5.

"We strung together some strong at-bats against a very good pitcher that inning," Indians manager Eric Wedge said.

"We all know Verlander can get it up there with the best of them," said Ryan Garko, whose two-run double cut the deficit to one. "We strung together some hits. That's what you have to do against a pitcher like him."

The rally picked up starter Jake Westbrook, who allowed three runs in the top of the inning. Jhonny Peralta's single tied the game, and Joe Inglett's two-run triple put the Indians ahead for good.

With one out, Grady Sizemore beat out an infield hit and had to stop at third on Jason Michaels' ground-rule double. It looked like the rally might end after Travis Hafner struck out on a 100-mph fastball from Verlander, but four straight hits followed.

Garko, who caught Verlander in last year's All-Star Futures Game, doubled into the right-field corner to score two runs.

"I saw the 100-mph [pitch] that he struck Hafner out with," Garko said. "I knew all I could do was go the other way. You can't pull a pitch like that. He threw it on the outer third, and I got it to right field."

Shin-Soo Choo's single to left moved Garko to third.

Inglett worked the count to 3-1, fouled off three straight fastballs, then lined another fastball up the gap to right-center. By the time the ball was retrieved, Choo and Peralta had scored and Inglett was on his way to third.

The Tigers weren't planning on Inglett pulling the ball, as they had him played toward left-center.

"I was thinking to put the ball in play," he said. "They know my swing. I usually hit it right where [Curtis] Granderson was playing. It split the plate. I got my bat head out and hit it where they weren't."

That ended Verlander's night. Zach Miner entered the game, allowing a Kelly Shoppach ground ball to deep short that hit off Carlos Guillen's glove and rolled into left field for a hit. Inglett scored to give the Tribe a three-run lead.

The inning ended as it began, with an Andy Marte strikeout, but the Indians were greeted with a big ovation from the crowd of 29,138.

"Look at Garko getting that big knock to get us going," Wedge said. "Inglett kept fouling off pitches. He stayed with it and was able to hit it up the gap."

"They picked me up after I gave up the three-spot," Westbrook said.

Westbrook bobbed and weaved through seven innings to improve his record to 11-8. He allowed five runs and 12 hits, but he induced three double plays and retired Ivan Rodriguez on a groundout with two on to end the seventh.

Wedge went to the mound before Rodriguez came to bat, talked briefly with Westbrook and returned to the dugout.

"Any time you see your manager come out, you never know," he said. "He asked me if I could get this guy. I said, 'Yes, sir.' He left me out there, and I'm glad he did."

"He really bowed up right there to get the last out," Wedge said. "I wanted to leave him in the ballgame, and he wanted that hitter, but that's only half of it. You need to make the pitch to get out of it, and he did."

Westbrook walked three and threw 115 pitches. He had been 1-5 in his last six starts against the Tigers.

"They've hit me around," he said. "I really had to battle. I got three double plays. None was bigger than the one in the sixth. The guys did a great job behind me."

Jason Davis pitched a scoreless eighth and Tom Mastny worked the ninth for his third save in three opportunities.

The Indians scored two in the third on Michaels' double and Hafner's single.

Michaels robbed Sean Casey of a leadoff hit in the eighth with a diving grab.

"I thought I had a chance to get to it," he said. "I got a good read on it. It's a quick decision, and I went for it."