DETROIT -- All the noise about whether Justin Verlander will get traded away from Detroit has done one thing -- made the right-hander and Tigers' fans very appreciative of what he's accomplished.

Verlander dodged more bullets than the Lone Ranger through four innings Sunday, then retired the last seven batters he faced to finish six shutout innings and draw another standing ovation from the Detroit crowd as he left after throwing his 110th pitch of the game.

Justin Upton hit a grand slam and tied a career best with six RBIs and Miguel Cabrera hit a milestone RBI double in the fifth to lead Detroit to a 13-1 victory over the Houston Astros and two wins in the three-game series.

"Honestly," Verlander said with the non-waiver trade deadline coming up at 4 p.m. ET on Monday. "I don't know (what's going to happen).

"But I do know I have control over the situation, which is a nice thing to have. Knowing that makes it easier if I do get (an offer to be traded). But I definitely want to stay here in Detroit."

Verlander (6-7), a non-winner since June 27, left eight Houston runners on base in the first four innings including three in the second. He walked three, gave up five hits and struck out six.

"He could end up being the best Detroit Tigers pitcher in the history of the game," Tigers' manager Brad Ausmus said. "There's no question about that. A lot of that will depend on how long he pitches and his health, etc.

"He still obviously has the arm strength, which is usually the first thing to go. I think a couple years ago, myself included, we were a little worried he might be losing some of the arm strength. He's clearly shown it's still in there on a regular basis, not just sporadically.

"I don't think he's done being a Tiger. It's very complex to make a trade and it's even more complex when the player has a no-trade clause. And I'm not basing this on anything other than gut instinct. But I think Tiger fans will get a chance to see him pitch again.

"And if they don't, really what makes him so great is not just his performances but he was part of 12 years and the vast majority of those year the team was either in the playoffs or in contention. And he was a big part of that."

"Verlander was good," Houston manager A.J. Hinch said. "We had him a couple different innings where we could have broke things through and put a little bit of pressure on them but couldn't come up with the big hit, which is what you need to do against the better pitchers when you get some opportunities.

"But you have to give them credit. They outplayed us. So we'll go home."

Daniel Stumpf pitched a scoreless seventh, Alex Wilson the eighth and Drew VerHagen the ninth, losing the shutout when Alex Bregman led off the inning with his 11th home run of the season.

The Tigers broke the game open with three runs in the sixth, chasing Lance McCullers Jr. who gave up at least four runs in his fourth straight start. McCullers Jr. (7-3) allowed eight hits, walked four, struck out four and was charged with five runs in five innings.

"I thought early it was a little rough," Hinch said of his starter's performance. "The command was not there for him. He hit a couple guys, walked a couple guys, then settled in a little bit in the middle part of his outing. Then at the tail end just had very little feel for where the ball was going.

"He's going through a little bit of a rut, a little bit of a lull, just like our team feels like it is going through this series. We had a winning road trip, there's a lot of positives to come out of it. But we're ready to get home."

Jose Iglesias walked and Dixon Machado singled to chase McCullers Jr. at the beginning of the sixth and reliever Joe Musgrove gave up an RBI double to left to Mikie Mahtook and a two-run double to right center to Upton.

Machado hit a sacrifice fly off Tony Sipp with the bases loaded in the seventh and Upton hit his sixth career grand slam (second this season) and 17th home run of the year to make it 11-0. Upton has five six-RBI games in his career.

"It's cool," Upton said of the grand slam. "Any time you hit a home run in the big leagues it's great. I was just being aggressive. That can work against you if they see what you're doing. But I wasn't going to be passive in that situation."

Cabrera hit an RBI double to left in the fifth after Upton's leadoff single to right and scored on a two-out single by James McCann to put Detroit up, 3-0. Cabrera's double tied him for 79th place on the all-time hit list with new Hall-of-Famer Tim Raines at 2,605.

The Tigers scored first on an RBI single down the first base line by Jose Iglesias in the second. Andrew Romine was hit by a pitch with two out and wild-pitched to second.

The Astros used first baseman Tyler White to pitch the eighth and save the bullpen. He also pitched a mop-up inning for Houston last year. He gave up a two-run home run to James McCann, his 10th.

NOTES: RHP Will Harris was returned to the 10-day disabled list with continued shoulder discomfort by Houston on Sunday, having not appeared in a game after being activated Friday. ... 2B Ian Kinsler was not in Detroit's starting lineup. "Just a day off," manager Brad Ausmus said. ... The Astros brought RHP Reymin Guduan up from Triple-A Fresno to fill RHP Will Harris' spot in the bullpen. Guduan, who was in nine games earlier this season with a 7.88 ERA, faced two batters in the seventh and got both out. ... Detroit's 5-3 win Saturday night, coming with three runs in the seventh, marked just the second time in 44 games the Tigers had won when trailing after six innings. It was also just the club's third win in 31 games without hitting a home run.