BOSTON — Anibal Sanchez was once a prospect blazing a path toward Fenway Park, toward postseason glory, toward the spoils that eventually went to Jon Lester, his teammate in 2005 on the Class AA Portland Sea Dogs, a Red Sox affiliate.
They shared a rotation and visions of a bright future with the Red Sox, rising in lock step, but their paths ultimately diverged. Sanchez was traded. Lester was promoted. They had little in common beyond that summer in Maine.
Their link was rejoined Saturday night, but Lester now has a more ignominious recognition: he was the losing pitcher in a 1-0 win by Sanchez and the Detroit Tigers in Game 1 of the American League Championship Series, a pitching gem that very nearly made its way into the record books.
Daniel Nava singled with one out in the ninth inning to end the bid by five Tigers pitchers to throw the third postseason no-hitter. But when it was finished, they struck out 17 Red Sox, tying Bob Gibson’s playoff record from 1968, and handed Boston its first postseason shutout here since 1918.
Fans blasted the umpires. Frustrated players flung bats. But a 1-for-29 collective performance at the plate by Boston simply echoed a trend of disappearing offense around the playoffs, with St. Louis’s Michael Wacha, Detroit’s Justin Verlander and now his teammates all flirting with pitching perfection in October.
“We got some big opportunities in that first, second and sixth inning,” Red Sox Manager John Farrell said. “But that two-out base hit was elusive.”
The game’s star was Sanchez, who consummated his circuitous path back to Fenway in a most unusual manner. His postseason line was unlike any before — 6 innings pitched, 6 walks, 12 strikeouts, 0 hits allowed.
Sanchez, with his fastball flaring into the mid-90s and a 90-mile-per-hour diving slider that turned devastating, rarely worked ahead in the count and battled with almost every Boston hitter. Keeping his pitch count in check was a struggle from the outset, when he needed 52 pitches to work through two innings. He was pulled after 116 pitches.
But nobody for the Red Sox had a hit, nothing even close. Only five batters even put a ball in play. The rest struck out or walked.
“He got rolling pretty good and made some good pitches,” Detroit Manager Jim Leyland said. “He gave us all we needed.”
His 12th strikeout, against Stephen Drew, came with the bases loaded in the sixth and the Tigers leading, 1-0. The crowd was on its feet, but Drew struck out on a 1-2 slider in the dirt, and Sanchez did a pirouette off the mound in delight.
“I tried to get relaxed basically when I got bases loaded,” Sanchez said. “I tried to throw every pitch for a strike. At the end I struck him out. I got really excited at that point.”
The Red Sox stormed through a four-game series with the Tampa Bay Rays with a diversified and resourceful offense, blending speed, power and the cocksure self-belief of a 97-win playoff team.
But it all crumbled against Sanchez — the speed, the power, the belief. They showed frustration toward the home-plate umpire, Joe West. The leadoff hitter Jacoby Ellsbury, their postseason catalyst, went 0 for 4 with three strikeouts.
Sanchez looked dominating from the outset. In the first inning, he struck out four batters — Shane Victorino reached on a wild pitch after a swinging strike three — becoming the first player since Orval Overall in 1908 to do so in a postseason game.
“In hitters’ counts, he’ll throw a hard slider that starts in the zone and goes out,” Red Sox second baseman Dustin Pedroia said. “He knows how to pitch.”
Pedroia would know — he teamed with Sanchez and Lester on that Class AA Portland team eight years ago. After that season, Sanchez was traded to the Florida Marlins as part of the deal for Josh Beckett and Mike Lowell, who would help the Red Sox win the 2007 world title. It was a fruitful deal for Boston, but they may not have fully envisioned Sanchez’s eventual success.
At age 29, in his second season with Detroit, Sanchez led the American League with a 2.57 earned run average this year. He was roughed up by the Oakland A’s in his first postseason start, allowing six runs (five earned) in four and a third innings in a Game 3 loss.
But on Saturday, he had no issues putting that performance behind him.
“I work on my mechanics during the off days, and I try to put it in the game,” Sanchez said. “I tried to be on top of the ball” for more movement. “That’s what I do early in the season this year, and it worked today.”
In the fifth, the Tigers ran into two outs on the base paths. After Jhonny Peralta doubled to lead off the inning, he was caught drifting too far off second base on a sharp grounder to first. When Mike Napoli adroitly fired to second, Peralta could not scramble back in time. Later Omar Infante was thrown out at home on a ground ball to third base.
But the Tigers finally broke through against Lester with a run in the sixth, on a two-out, two-strike bloop single to center by Peralta, even as the crowd showered him with “steroid” chants, referring to Peralta’s 50-game suspension for his role in the Biogenesis investigation.
“I don’t try to pay attention about what the fans are doing or whatever,” Peralta said. “I try to do my job.”
It remained Detroit’s advantage by the slimmest of margins until the ninth, when the Red Sox anthem, “Shipping Up To Boston,” blared and the closer, Joaquin Benoit, came in to try to complete the no-hit bid.
After Mike Napoli struck out, Nava battled with Benoit in a seven-pitch at-bat that ultimately ended with Nava standing on first, the only Boston base runner who earned his way there with a hit.
After a Drew flyout, Quintin Berry, pinch-running for Nava, stole second base. But with the count full, Benoit got Xander Bogaerts to pop out to short to end the game.
The no-hitter had been lost. But not the win in Game 1.
INSIDE PITCH
The Tigers added the left-handed reliever Phil Coke to their American League Championship Series roster, after he missed the divisional series with elbow trouble.
They shared a rotation and visions of a bright future with the Red Sox, rising in lock step, but their paths ultimately diverged. Sanchez was traded. Lester was promoted. They had little in common beyond that summer in Maine.
Their link was rejoined Saturday night, but Lester now has a more ignominious recognition: he was the losing pitcher in a 1-0 win by Sanchez and the Detroit Tigers in Game 1 of the American League Championship Series, a pitching gem that very nearly made its way into the record books.
Daniel Nava singled with one out in the ninth inning to end the bid by five Tigers pitchers to throw the third postseason no-hitter. But when it was finished, they struck out 17 Red Sox, tying Bob Gibson’s playoff record from 1968, and handed Boston its first postseason shutout here since 1918.
Fans blasted the umpires. Frustrated players flung bats. But a 1-for-29 collective performance at the plate by Boston simply echoed a trend of disappearing offense around the playoffs, with St. Louis’s Michael Wacha, Detroit’s Justin Verlander and now his teammates all flirting with pitching perfection in October.
“We got some big opportunities in that first, second and sixth inning,” Red Sox Manager John Farrell said. “But that two-out base hit was elusive.”
The game’s star was Sanchez, who consummated his circuitous path back to Fenway in a most unusual manner. His postseason line was unlike any before — 6 innings pitched, 6 walks, 12 strikeouts, 0 hits allowed.
Sanchez, with his fastball flaring into the mid-90s and a 90-mile-per-hour diving slider that turned devastating, rarely worked ahead in the count and battled with almost every Boston hitter. Keeping his pitch count in check was a struggle from the outset, when he needed 52 pitches to work through two innings. He was pulled after 116 pitches.
But nobody for the Red Sox had a hit, nothing even close. Only five batters even put a ball in play. The rest struck out or walked.
“He got rolling pretty good and made some good pitches,” Detroit Manager Jim Leyland said. “He gave us all we needed.”
His 12th strikeout, against Stephen Drew, came with the bases loaded in the sixth and the Tigers leading, 1-0. The crowd was on its feet, but Drew struck out on a 1-2 slider in the dirt, and Sanchez did a pirouette off the mound in delight.
“I tried to get relaxed basically when I got bases loaded,” Sanchez said. “I tried to throw every pitch for a strike. At the end I struck him out. I got really excited at that point.”
The Red Sox stormed through a four-game series with the Tampa Bay Rays with a diversified and resourceful offense, blending speed, power and the cocksure self-belief of a 97-win playoff team.
But it all crumbled against Sanchez — the speed, the power, the belief. They showed frustration toward the home-plate umpire, Joe West. The leadoff hitter Jacoby Ellsbury, their postseason catalyst, went 0 for 4 with three strikeouts.
Sanchez looked dominating from the outset. In the first inning, he struck out four batters — Shane Victorino reached on a wild pitch after a swinging strike three — becoming the first player since Orval Overall in 1908 to do so in a postseason game.
“In hitters’ counts, he’ll throw a hard slider that starts in the zone and goes out,” Red Sox second baseman Dustin Pedroia said. “He knows how to pitch.”
Pedroia would know — he teamed with Sanchez and Lester on that Class AA Portland team eight years ago. After that season, Sanchez was traded to the Florida Marlins as part of the deal for Josh Beckett and Mike Lowell, who would help the Red Sox win the 2007 world title. It was a fruitful deal for Boston, but they may not have fully envisioned Sanchez’s eventual success.
At age 29, in his second season with Detroit, Sanchez led the American League with a 2.57 earned run average this year. He was roughed up by the Oakland A’s in his first postseason start, allowing six runs (five earned) in four and a third innings in a Game 3 loss.
But on Saturday, he had no issues putting that performance behind him.
“I work on my mechanics during the off days, and I try to put it in the game,” Sanchez said. “I tried to be on top of the ball” for more movement. “That’s what I do early in the season this year, and it worked today.”
In the fifth, the Tigers ran into two outs on the base paths. After Jhonny Peralta doubled to lead off the inning, he was caught drifting too far off second base on a sharp grounder to first. When Mike Napoli adroitly fired to second, Peralta could not scramble back in time. Later Omar Infante was thrown out at home on a ground ball to third base.
But the Tigers finally broke through against Lester with a run in the sixth, on a two-out, two-strike bloop single to center by Peralta, even as the crowd showered him with “steroid” chants, referring to Peralta’s 50-game suspension for his role in the Biogenesis investigation.
“I don’t try to pay attention about what the fans are doing or whatever,” Peralta said. “I try to do my job.”
It remained Detroit’s advantage by the slimmest of margins until the ninth, when the Red Sox anthem, “Shipping Up To Boston,” blared and the closer, Joaquin Benoit, came in to try to complete the no-hit bid.
After Mike Napoli struck out, Nava battled with Benoit in a seven-pitch at-bat that ultimately ended with Nava standing on first, the only Boston base runner who earned his way there with a hit.
After a Drew flyout, Quintin Berry, pinch-running for Nava, stole second base. But with the count full, Benoit got Xander Bogaerts to pop out to short to end the game.
The no-hitter had been lost. But not the win in Game 1.
INSIDE PITCH
The Tigers added the left-handed reliever Phil Coke to their American League Championship Series roster, after he missed the divisional series with elbow trouble.