The Detroit Tigers moved into first place Friday behind a near no-hitter by Anibal Sanchez, who is leading a rotation that is so good that Justin Verlander is only fourth in ERA and WHIP (see table below). Sanchez lowered his ERA to 2.38 by coming within two outs of a no-hitter Friday to shut out the Twins and move the Tigers in front of the Cleveland Indians in the AL Central, just a month after he struck out 17 Braves.
Sanchez just missed his second career no-hitter as the Tigers beat the Twins 6-0.
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NAME | GS | W | L | IP | H | ER | HR | BB | SO | K/9 | WAR | WHIP | ERA |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Anibal Sanchez | 10 | 5 | 4 | 64.1 | 55 | 17 | 2 | 17 | 80 | 11.19 | 1.6 | 1.12 | 2.38 |
Max Scherzer | 9 | 6 | 0 | 62.1 | 44 | 25 | 5 | 13 | 75 | 10.83 | 1.3 | 0.91 | 3.61 |
Doug Fister | 9 | 5 | 1 | 54.2 | 60 | 22 | 1 | 9 | 43 | 7.08 | 0.6 | 1.26 | 3.62 |
Justin Verlander | 10 | 5 | 4 | 59 | 60 | 24 | 3 | 21 | 69 | 10.53 | 1.1 | 1.37 | 3.66 |
Total | 38 | 21 | 9 | 239.4 | 219 | 88 | 11 | 60 | 267 | 10.1 | 4.6 | 1.17 | 3.31 |
For the AP account of the fifth one-hitter of the season, click here.
The rotation as a whole is now 21-9, is striking out more than 10 batters for every nine innings pitched, and has a 3.31 ERA and 1.17 WHIP. The Wins Above Replacement (WAR) equations indicate the Tigers would be four and a half games behind the Indians and battling the White Sox and Royals for second through fought place without the four pitchers.
Minnesota’s Joe Mauer finally broke up the no-hitter with one out in the ninth, but Sanchez finished the game with a 6-0 win to hand the Twins their 10th straight loss.