Justin Verlander outduels Chris Archer as Tigers stave off series sweep 2

Tampa Bay Rays’ Curt Casali flips his bat as he watches his home run off Detroit Tigers starting pitcher Anibal Sanchez during the third inning of a baseball game Monday, July 27, 2015, in St. Petersburg, Fla. Yoenis Cespedes leads Detroit with 115 hits and 58 RBI while Ian Kinsler and J.D. He retired his first 14 batters before giving up a homer to the Rays with two outs in the fifth.

■Seen: Verlander put his glove over pitching coach Jeff Jones’ mouth during a seventh-inning mound visit. This season, his team has been shut out four times when he has pitched, been held to one once and two twice. Detroit dropped five of its last six games and could be edging closer to being at least a partial seller before Friday’s non-waiver trade deadline. Cabrera fielded it deep from his position and the throw to first base was true, but Iglesias beat it out.

The Tigers didn’t muster so much as a threat the rest of the way, kept in check by right-hander Jake Odorizzi, who allowed one run on six hits over six innings.

Monday was the first three-hit game of his young big-league career. He allowed two unearned runs, three hits and struck out 11 in seven innings.

The Detroit Tigers and Baltimore Orioles begin a four-game series Thursday night. Martinez and Nick Castellanos. The move gave Tampa Bay three catchers, providing protection so C Curt Casali could DH and Rene Rivera catch.

Verlander’s outing was very encouraging, easily posting his best outing since coming back from the disabled list last month.

Karns (6-5) gave up three hits and no walks in six-plus innings, winning six days after a 1-0 victory at Philadelphia in which he hit a home run. Asdrubal Cabrera doubled and scored on Tim Beckham’s single in the second, then doubled to drive in a run ahead of Casali’s two-run homer that made it 4-1 in the fourth.

“I find that hard to believe when people say they don’t think about it and they say I didn’t even know”, Archer said about bidding for a flawless game.

The Rays had their best offensive output of the season on Tuesday, banging out 11 hits and scoring 10 runs.

It was the fifth time in Verlander’s career that he recorded double-digit strikeouts and no walks, and the first since 2010.

“It was nice to get this one out of this way and more importantly, it was nice to pitch a couple of ballgames in a row where I pitched well”, Verlander said. Martinez brought home Iglesias with a base hit.

With his name still flying in trade rumors and gaining speed with each Tigers loss, the left-handed ace struggled in a 10-2 loss to the Rays on Tuesday night.

Tigers: LHP Kyle Lobstein (left shoulder) is set to throw batting practice and is nearing a minor league rehab assignment.

Yet, a more interesting storyline going into Wednesday’s series finale between the Tigers and Rays at Tropicana Field may be regarding who will be Archer’s catcher.