DETROIT — The fans came to their feet before Justin Verlander even left the mound, then he waved to them in appreciation as he walked to the dugout.

With the Detroit Tigers trying to hold on to first place in their division, these are exciting times at Comerica Park — and never more so than when Verlander is on the mound.

Verlander allowed one run over 7 2-3 innings to become baseball’s first 18-game winner, and the Tigers breezed to an easy 7-1 victory over the Minnesota Twins on Tuesday night. The Tigers lead the Indians by three games in the AL Central.

Verlander labored through a 29-pitch first inning but settled down after that, allowing seven hits in another impressive outing.

“Every win’s important for us right now,” the Detroit ace said.

Verlander (18-5) struck out eight to surpass 200 on the year, walked one and lowered his ERA to 2.31.

His 200th strikeout came in the sixth, when Justin Morneau watched a breaking ball drop toward the outside corner, then slowly walked back to the dugout looking like he was about to roll his eyes.

Verlander struck out two more Twins to start the seventh and another two in the eighth, getting former MVP Joe Mauer swinging on a breaking ball that dropped wickedly as it reached the plate.

Morneau finally managed an RBI single that inning, chasing Verlander from the game. The tall right-hander received a standing ovation from the sellout crowd when it became clear he was being lifted.

By then, the Tigers had this one all but wrapped up.

“I was a little concerned because the pitch count got pretty high in the first inning, but then he took care of that as the game went on,” Tigers manager Jim Leyland said. “He did great. We get spoiled, to be honest with you.”

Miguel Cabrera drove in three runs for the Tigers, and Ramon Santiago hit his third home run of the season, a solo shot in the sixth.

Nick Blackburn (7-10) allowed five runs and 11 hits in 4 2-3 innings.

Minnesota slugger Jim Thome was out of the starting lineup Tuesday, one night after hitting two home runs to reach 600 for his career.

He did pinch-hit with two outs in the ninth, drawing a standing ovation from the Detroit crowd. That reception then morphed almost seamlessly into a celebration when Thome struck out to end the game.

Thome’s teammates had little success against Verlander. The Twins put two men on in the first, but Morneau hit a popup and Jason Kubel struck out to end the threat.

“He’s a tough cookie. That’s why he’s about to win the Cy Young,” Minnesota outfielder Ben Revere said. “When he’s going like that, with that lineup, you don’t have a chance. You have to figure on scoring five or six runs to beat them — tonight, it would have been eight — and that’s not going to happen against him.”