CHICAGO -- Justin Verlander did some amazing work to get out of a jam in the eighth inning.

Miguel Cabrera made a winner out of Verlander in the ninth.

Cabrera hit a two-out, two-run home run in the ninth inning Saturday night to give the Detroit Tigers a 4-2 victory against the Chicago White Sox.

The home run came on a 1-2 count and broke a 2-2 tie that had stood since the fifth inning.

"Two-out hits are golden, and when you hit it over the fence they’re really golden," Tigers manager Jim Leyland said. "That was a nice win for us."

Verlander got out of a jam in the eighth inning in impressive fashion to set up Cabrera’s heroics. The White Sox put runners on the corners and had Carlos Quentin, who has 14 home runs, at the plate with one out.

Verlander appeared frustrated after his 2-2 pitch was called for a ball, but he followed that up with a 100-mph fastball — on his 109th pitch of the night — that Quentin took for strike three.

"I felt like it was a strike," Verlander said of the 2-2 pitch. "He called it a ball. It’s such a big spot. Your adrenaline’s really going, so it’s really hard to kind of bottle that in and turn your back on it. I said something, and I probably shouldn’t have. ...

"But I was able to step to the back of the mound, take a second, take a deep breath and just reset and say, ‘OK, let’s make my pitch now.’ "

Leyland stressed the importance of the Quentin at-bat.

"That was a huge out," he said. "That wasn’t a very comfortable situation."

Verlander then fielded a hard grounder from A.J. Pierzynski while falling down on the mound and threw Pierzynski out at first to send the game to the ninth inning tied at 2-all.

Austin Jackson led off the ninth with a triple to the wall in left-center, but it appeared the Tigers might strand him there after Don Kelly popped up to second and Brennan Boesch struck out. But that is when Cabrera sent a Jesse Crain offering just above the wall in right field to give the Tigers the lead.

"It was a good win for us," Leyland said. "Your two horses really came through at the end. But you’ve got to credit Jackson for getting that inning started. He put a lot of pressure on them on third base with nobody out."

Verlander (6-3) has now earned a victory in seven consecutive starts against the White Sox dating back to June 2009. He allowed two runs on seven hits and one walk in eight innings. Verlander struck out seven.

Jose Valverde pitched the ninth inning and picked up his 15th save.

Verlander clearly outpitched former teammate Edwin Jackson, but the Tigers let Jackson off the hook repeatedly in the early innings. The Tigers had their chances, but just as the White Sox did the night before, could not come up with a key hit and left a slew of runners on base early.

"We came out of the gates and had a couple of missed opportunities," Verlander said. "But this team has a never-say-die attitude. We came up there and battled the rest of the way, and Miggy came up in a huge spot and did what he does best."

The Tigers scored two runs in the first on a two-run home run by Boesch, but failed to push any more runs across while sending eight hitters to the plate in that inning. Andy Dirks popped up with runners at second and third with one out, and Alex Avila grounded out to second with the bases loaded to end the inning.

The Tigers stranded eight runners through the first four innings without any additional damage, which left Verlander with little margin for error. Chicago took advantage of that and tied the game at 2-all on a two-run homer by Gordon Beckham with one out in the fifth.

Jackson allowed two runs on seven hits and four walks. He struck out five. Jackson came out of the game after six innings after throwing 124 pitches, 81 for strikes. At that point in the game, Verlander had thrown just 83 pitches.

Odds & ends

The Tigers will officially place pitcher David Purcey on the paternity list Sunday and will recall the contract of left-handed pitcher Adam Wilk from Triple-A Toledo. ... The Tigers have won 10 of their past 11 games against the White Sox. ... The Tigers are 12-6 against American League Central Division opponents. ... The Tigers bullpen has compiled a 2.54 ERA over the past 12 games. ... Valverde is 15-for-15 in converting save opportunities this season. ... Verlander surpassed Virgil Trucks for 11th place on the franchise’s all-time strikeouts list. ... Magglio Ordonez went 3-for-5 with a double, an RBI and a run scored as the designated hitter for Toledo on Saturday night.