The Chicago White Sox have won 11 of 13 and the resurgent Minnesota Twins have claimed 14 of 16, but the surprising Detroit Tigers have stayed atop the American League Central with a 13-2 surge of their own. Despite owning the best record in the majors, the Tigers' three-game sweep of the St. Louis Cardinals still wasn't expected with Albert Pujols returning to an already-dangerous lineup. Detroit thumped Cardinals ace Chris Carpenter for seven runs Friday night -- the most he's given up in a game all season -- then posted dramatic, late-inning rallies to win on Saturday and Sunday. Five Tiger regulars are batting better than .290 and four -- Brandon Inge, Magglio Ordonez, Marcus Thames and Chris Shelton -- have at least 14 home runs this season. The Tigers rank fourth in the AL in runs and only the White Sox have more homers. Most surprising is a young pitching staff that continues to shine. While Mike Maroth has been lost indefinitely following surgery for bone chips in his left elbow, each of the other four mainstays of the rotation has won at least seven games with an ERA well below 4.00: the old man Kenny Rogers (10-3, 3.44), Jason Verlander (9-4, 3.39), Nate Robertson (7-3, 3.38) and Jeremy Bonderman (7-4, 3.65). Can these surprising Tigers be tamed? Perhaps the young rotation can continue its fine work, but the tougher part of the schedule awaits the Tigers. On the other hand, the Tigers are 26 games over .500 at 51-25, nearly as good as the upstart White Sox were through the same number of games a year ago (52-24). If the Tigers play .500 ball the rest of the way, they finish at 94-68. Holding off the White Sox in the AL Central with that record is no certainty, but a Tigers team that plays at a .550 clip the rest of the way wins 98 games. Could that be good enough to claim a wild-card berth if Detroit finishes second to Chicago? The wild card may not be going to an AL East team this fall.