ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. -- Justin Verlander struck out eight, Ian Kinsler hit his 15th home run of the season and the Detroit Tigers hit the midpoint of their season on a high note with a 3-2 victory over the Tampa Bay Rays on Saturday at Tropicana Field.

Detroit (43-38) secured at least a series win against the Rays. The teams conclude their four-game set on Sunday afternoon.

Rays starter Blake Snell struggled to find his control, resulting in four walks and a handful of sticky situations. The 23-year-old walked two Tigers in the second inning, a costly move when the next hitter, Jose Iglesias, hit a two-out single up the middle to send in Detroit's first run.

Snell then walked to load the bases -- Snell's third walk of the young game -- before Rays pitching coach Jim Hickey waved for time and gathered the infield to speak to his left-hander. The break snapped Snell out of the funk long enough to coax Cameron Maybin into a harmless comebacker to end the threat.

A run was the only damage sustained, but the battle was costly in other ways: Snell's pitch count was 48 after just two innings.

On the other side, Verlander faced just one hitter above the minimum during his first three innings. Steven Souza Jr. was the lone Rays player to reach base during that time, with a dribbler to second base resulting in a single.

If Souza's hustle play rattled Verlander, he didn't show it, and the latter picked the former off first base on Verlander's fourth throw to the bag to end the inning.

Verlander's aggressiveness eventually came back to haunt him in the top of the fourth. The right-hander checked Tampa Bay's Logan Forsythe at first three times before eventually throwing wide of Jarrod Saltalamacchia. The ball scooted into the outfield, allowing Forsythe to reach third with one out.

Evan Longoria's deep fly to left field on the next play allowed Forsythe to tag up and cross home with the tying run.

The Tigers tacked on a run in both the fifth and sixth, thanks to Kinsler's leadoff homer and a Saltalamacchia sacrifice fly, respectively, to take a 3-1 lead and push Snell from the game.

Snell, who was eventually saddled with the loss, allowed three earned runs, four hits and four walks. He struck out four, had a wild pitch and finished with 101 pitches in 5 1/3 innings.

Tampa Bay stirred a little in the sixth, stringing a double from Brad Miller together with a Longoria single and capping that with a Logan Morrison sacrifice fly to pull within 3-2. But Verlander got his final revenge, catching Morrison swinging to end the seventh, Verlander's last.

Verlander finished with one earned run, four hits and one walk and lowered his ERA to 4.11 en route to his eighth win. The 33-year-old was replaced by Justin Wilson to start the eighth.

Both bullpens combined to hold the opposite hitters scoreless in relief. Tampa Bay, which sent Ryan Garton (sixth, seventh), Xavier Cedeno (eighth) and Erasmo Ramirez (ninth) to the mound after Snell's exit, limited Detroit to one hit.

Francisco Rodriguez pitched a perfect ninth to pick up his 23rd save in 25 opportunities this season.

NOTES: Before Friday's game, the Rays activated OF Steven Souza Jr. from the 15-day disabled list and optioned UT Taylor Motter to Triple-A Durham. ... Tigers IF Jose Iglesias and RHP Michael Fulmer were named the Tigers Player and Pitcher of the Month for June. ... Detroit was 7-3 in its last 10 games entering Saturday, and Tampa Bay was 2-14 in its last 16 games. ... Tigers 1B Miguel Cabrera needs four RBIs entering Saturday to hit 1,500 in his career. ... Detroit's 10-2 Friday night win marked the third consecutive double-digits runs total, the club's longest streak since July 28-Aug. 1, 1996. ... Tampa Bay joins Atlanta, Arizona and Minnesota as the lone MLB teams to not yet have a winning home stand this season. ... In 81 career games against the Rays, Tigers DH Victor Martinez is hitting .354 (113 for 319), with 65 RBIs, 14 home runs, 18 doubles and 45 runs scored. ... Tampa Bay is fourth in the majors with 110 home runs, the highest total after 80 games in club history.