On Tuesday night, the Detroit Tigers defeated the Philadelphia Phillies by a score of 3-1, extending their winning streak to four straight. One of, if not the biggest star of the night was starting pitcher Justin Verlander.

The 33-year-old Verlander went eight innings, allowing just three hits, two walks, zero runs and recording 10 strikeouts. He also struck out 10 in his previous outing against the Minnesota Twins, which was a game where he also recorded his 2,000th career strikeout.

Due to some struggles earlier on in the year, Verlander is still just 4-4 with a 4.02 ERA on the season, which are numbers that might strike one as rather mediocre at first glance. That said, his ERA indicators paint a brighter portrait with his FIP, xFIP and SIERA checking in at 3.62, 3.90 and 3.58, respectively. Moreover, over his last four outings, he is 2-1 with a 1.19 ERA and an 0.82 WHIP. He has also recorded a whopping 37 strikeouts over 30.1 innings during that stretch.

Verlander’s 9.69 K/9 on the season currently ranks eighth among qualified American League starters. Much like he did towards the end of last season, Verlander has also been proving that his velocity is still in fine shape as well. According to Fangraphs PITCHf/x data, his best fastball has registered at a speed of 97.2 mph so far this season.

As a whole, Detroit’s starting rotation has struggled mightily up to this point, posting a 4.60 ERA, which still ranks just 23rd in MLB. The Tigers were also given a bit of a scare on Sunday when Jordan Zimmermann, who has been the team’s best and most consistent starter through this point in the season, left a game against the Tampa Bay Rays with a groin injury. Reports now indicate that he is expected to sit out at least one start, so Verlander has certainly picked a good time to step up.

Although Verlander may still not be quite the same guy he was in 2011 when he won the AL Cy Young and MVP award, he is proving that he still indeed has top-of-the-rotation stuff. He is looking like he will be a major help to this team going forward.