Nearly no-hit, Indians still fall to Tigers

Associated Press

CLEVELAND

Anibal Sanchez thought he could pitch a no-hitter and Alex Avila believed he touched third base.

Turns out, neither did as the Detroit Tigers beat the Cleveland Indians 5-3 despite having a run taken off the scoreboard Saturday.

Carlos Santana ruined Sanchez’s no-hit bid with a two-out triple in the seventh, but Cleveland was officially eliminated from the playoffs after falling to 16-45 since the All-Star break.

“I thought I would do it,” Sanchez (3-5) said of throwing his second career no-hitter. “I was trying to be aggressive, not be afraid and all my pitches were working.”

Sanchez struck out seven over 6 2/3 innings as Detroit stayed one game behind the first place Chicago White Sox in the AL Central with its fourth straight win.

Ironically, the White Sox also won 5-3 as Chicago starter Francisco Liriano had a no-hitter for 6 2/3 innings against Minnesota.

“It is what it is,” Tigers manager Jim Leyland said. “We’re still playing for pretty big stakes, just as they are.”

After Cleveland rallied, Jose Valverde, the fourth Tigers pitcher, worked the ninth for his 31st save in 35 chances.

Leyland said the win was bigger than Sanchez’s bid for history and that he went to the bullpen to help the right-hander get only his second victory in seven starts since Aug. 8.

“You can’t get sentimental, well maybe if you’ve got a 15-run lead,” Leyland said. “He was throwing great, got two quick outs in the seventh, then they got a couple runs.”

Detroit got only one run instead of two in the fifth for a 4-0 lead when Avila missed third.

With two outs, and Avila on second after an RBI double off Justin Masterson (11-14), Quintin Berry hit a ball into the hole at shortstop, where Asdrubal Cabrera fielded it and threw to third to try and get Avila advancing. The wild throw sent Avila home and Berry to second.

Miguel Cabrera hit his 37th homer leading off the seventh for a 5-0 lead.

Asdrubal Cabrera made it 5-3 with an RBI single in the eighth, after striking out three times.