DETROIT -- On the TV monitors in the visitor's clubhouse at Comerica Park late Wednesday night flashed the score from Baltimore: Rangers 30, Orioles 3.

But to the Indians, the offensive output they had just strung together in an 11-8 victory over the Tigers looked just as massive.

A night after getting one-hit by Double-A call-up Jair Jurrjens and in the midst of a month-long funk at the plate, the Tribe bats finally showed some major signs of life -- against a quality pitcher in Justin Verlander, no less.

And not only did the Indians re-extend their American League Central lead to 1 1/2 games, but they also ensured they will leave Detroit after Thursday's series final with possession of first place in this heated battle for division supremacy.

Big win? Yeah, you could say that.

"I'd be lying if I said anything differently," manager Eric Wedge said.

Wedge could be forgiven if he thought his eyes were lying to him as this one played out. Each member of the starting nine had a hit, eight had a run scored and seven had an RBI.

Could this really be the same Tribe that had been averaging a mere 3.4 runs over its previous 26 games?

The eyes did not deceive.

"Our guys did a good job using the middle of the field," Wedge said. "Obviously, Verlander is an outstanding young pitcher with good stuff. But when they got a good pitch to hit, they didn't try to do too much with it."

In doing so, they did quiet a bit.

Down 3-1 after starter Paul Byrd was torched for a three-run homer by Carlos Guillen in the first, the Indians' long-slumbering bats woke up with a start in the fourth.

It all began with Franklin Gutierrez's one-out, ground-rule double. With two outs, Asdrubal Cabrera knocked Gutierrez home with a single to center. Kenny Lofton's base hit to center put runners on the corners, and consecutive groundball singles from Casey Blake and Grady Sizemore drove both runners in. Blake then scored on Verlander's wild pitch, making it 5-3.

The four-run inning was certainly significant in the context of the club's recent offensive woes. But it wasn't the first time the Indians knocked Verlander around. In fact, they roughed him up for seven runs in an 11-5 victory on May 31.

The key to getting to Verlander is getting to his fiery fastball, and that's precisely what the Tribe did.

"We tried to be early and swing at the fastball," Gutierrez said. "That's why we did a great job."

The job continued in the fifth, when Travis Hafner and Jhonny Peralta hit consecutive singles to knock Verlander out of the game. In came reliever Zach Miner, and when he tried to sneak a 1-2 fastball past Gutierrez, it was summarily pounded into the left-field seats for a three-run homer that made it 8-3.

"With two strikes, there's not much I can do," Gutierrez said. "I just tried to make contact."

He made contact, all right. And he had also made an impressive running grab of Magglio Ordonez's would-be triple for the first out in the third.

"He had a great game for us," Wedge said of Gutierrez, who replaced Trot Nixon in right field to get some more speed into the lineup. "He was right in the middle of everything."

Unfortunately for the Indians, the middle and end of this game got a lot more uncomfortable than they anticipated. Byrd left two pitches out over the middle for Ordonez and Marcus Thames in the sixth. The first resulted in a solo home run -- the second a two-run shot that ended Byrd's night and made it 8-6.

"I really felt I threw the ball well," Byrd said. "I don't have a lot to show for it personally. They hit some good pitches."

Luckily for Byrd, the Indians weren't done hitting, either. In the eighth, with Grady Sizemore aboard on a ground-rule double, reliever Tim Byrdak intentionally walked Victor Martinez to get to Hafner, who was batting a mere .181 with runners in scoring position this season.

Bad move. Hafner hammered a double to left to bring Sizemore home.

One out later, Chad Durbin intentionally walked Gutierrez to get to Kelly Shoppach, who was mired in a 3-for-46 slump.

Bad move again. Shoppach grounded a single to left-center field to score two runs and make it 11-6.

"Shop was big," Wedge said. "It was good to see him come through in that situation."

Ballgame, right? Well, not quite.

The Indians had to sweat it out in the ninth, when Jensen Lewis, brought out for mop-up duty, let the Tigers tack on two runs before Joe Borowski had to close it out for his 35th save.

So while this win wasn't a monumental pounding on par with what was going on in Camden Yards, it was certainly a breath of fresh air for a Tribe offense that had been gasping for breath.

"It's not just the fact that we won, but how we won," Byrd said. "Our offense showed a lot of life against a good pitcher. I think we need to build off that."