CLEVELAND -- The Cleveland Indians lead the American League in pitching and as they go rolling into the All-Star break, they are showing why.

Three Cleveland pitchers combined on a four-hit shutout as the Indians beat the Detroit Tigers 4-0 on Saturday night at Progressive Field. It's the ninth shutout by Indians' pitchers this season, lowering their league-leading team ERA to 3.77. In their last seven games, Indians' starters have a 1.96 ERA.

Cleveland starter Mike Clevinger (5-3) pitched six innings and allowed three hits and two walks with four strikeouts. Andrew Miller pitched two innings and retired all six batters he faced, and Cody Allen worked the ninth.

In two starts against the Tigers this season, both coming in the last week, Clevinger is 2-0 with a 0.75 ERA.

"He's improving with every start, and it's sure nice to see," Indians acting manager Brad Mills said. "This should give him a lot of confidence going into the break."

Detroit starter Justin Verlander (5-6) pitched 6 2/3 innings, allowing one run and six hits with six strikeouts and four walks.

"His command was good, and his curveball was really good in the middle innings," said Tigers manager Brad Ausmus, who is more concerned with his team's lack of offense than its pitching.

"We've got to find a way to squeeze out some runs. (Four hits) generally doesn't cut it," said Ausmus, whose team has been outscored 15-2 in the first two games in Cleveland.

"We're just not getting big hits, and it's happening more frequently than we would have thought."

Leading 1-0, the Indians added three insurance runs in the eighth inning. With one out, Lonnie Chisenhall drew an 11-pitch walk from reliever Bruce Rondon.

"Rondon was doing everything he could. He was throwing the kitchen sink at him, but Lonnie kept fouling them off and fouling them off," Mills said.

Carlos Santana followed with a double into the gap in right-center field, scoring Chisenhall.

Santana went to third on a throwing error by second baseman Ian Kinsler, then scored when Bradley Zimmer drove a triple into the same right-center field gap to make it 3-0. Yan Gomes followed with a sacrifice fly to score Zimmer, extending the lead to 4-0.

The Indians' first three hits were doubles. Jason Kipnis doubled leading off the first inning but was left stranded. Santana doubled with two outs in the second but was left on base, as was Chisenhall after a two-out double in the fourth.

J.D. Martinez led off the Detroit second with a double, but Clevinger retired Victor Martinez on a fly ball, Nicholas Castellanos on a groundout and Mikie Mahtook on a strikeout to end the inning.

Verlander held Cleveland scoreless on three hits through the first four innings, as he and Clevinger, who was a big Verlander fan growing up, kept putting up zeroes.

"When he won the Cy Young Award, I think I was 16," Clevinger said. "He had that 100-mph fastball and that power curve. Everyone wanted to be like him. It's kind of surreal facing him now."

The Indians broke the scoreless tie in the fifth.

After Verlander struck out the first two batters of the inning, Francisco Lindor singled and scored when Michael Brantley, capping another long at bat, ripped a double into the gap in right-center field, giving Cleveland a 1-0 lead.

"I just tried to battle. He stays on the corners of the plate, so I just tried to keep fouling them off until I could get one I could handle," Brantley said.

"Brantley's a good hitter," Ausmus said. "He's going to the All-Star game for a reason."

Verlander was removed from the game with two on and two outs in the seventh inning, after throwing 115 pitches.

"Even though he got the loss, I'm sure he's happy with the way he pitched, and he should be," Ausmus said.

NOTES: Indians manager Terry Francona was discharged from Cleveland Clinic, where he underwent a procedure to correct a cardiac arrhythmia (irregular heartbeat) Thursday. He will spend the All-Star break resting at his residence in Cleveland, then rejoin the Indians in Oakland on July 14, their first game after the break. Bench coach Brad Mills will continue to manage the team in Francona's absence. ... Indians 2B Jason Kipnis left the game in the third inning with a strained right hamstring. ... Indians 1B Carlos Santana was activated off the paternity list. He missed the previous three games. ... Tigers 1B Miguel Cabrera (1,594) needs three RBIs to pass Mike Schmidt (1,595) and George Brett (1,596) for 32nd place in MLB history. ... Detroit RHP Michael Fulmer, who will start Sunday night, is 1-2 with a 6.98 ERA in four career starts against Cleveland.