Jose Valverde worked a scoreless ninth inning against the Royals to pick up his ninth save of the season on Tuesday. Valverde is still a high-wire act, as the Royals had a runner on second base with nobody out before he escaped without harm. Despite his uneasiness, he's earned nine saves in 11 chances and is still getting the call from Tigers manager Jim Leyland. The right-hander has struck out 16 batters in 16 2/3 innings this season.