Justin Verlander battling through 'peaks and valleys'

Tigers starting pitcher Justin Verlander dropped to 4-3 with a 5.91 ERA in his last eight starts after Tuesday's 5-2 loss to the Orioles, in which he allowed five runs in five innings. Like the rest of the baseball world, Verlander is well aware he's not pitching up to standards.

"It’s been a battle so far," Verlander said, per MLB.com. "Obviously, you have that stretch of three or four starts where it was pretty frustrating. You know, I guess I’m always trying to get better, and I feel like I’ve made adjustments to get to that point.

"I feel like I’ve been getting better, better, and better. That’s not necessarily going to work towards a perfect game, but you’re not going to get better every time. There’s ups and downs, peaks and valleys, (Tuesday) was just one of those nights where two long balls hurt me. You know who knows what happens if I’m able to execute those pitches a little bit better. I’m not saying that I regressed, it’s just one of those games. This is Major League Baseball, you’re not going to be perfect every time."