Anibal Sanchez, Jhonny Peralta lead Tigers to 1-0 Win over Red Sox; Cardinals Take 2-0 Lead in NLCS as Michael Wacha Silences Dodgers

Players of the Day for Saturday, October 12, 2013

American League

Anibal Sanchez

Jhonny Peralta

Tigers' starter, Anibal Sanchez, tossed six innings of no-hit ball to lead Detroit to an opening-game, 1-0, win over the Boston Red Sox in the AL championship series.

Detroit's only run came in the top of the sixth inning, when Jhonny Peralta drove in Miguel Cabrera from third with a solid single to center. Peralta also doubled twice, going 3-for-4 with the lone RBI.

Sanchez struck out 12 and walked six, and was pulled after six innings due to a high pitch count (116) despite the no-hit bid. A series of relievers made their ways to the mound after the departure of Sanchez, each keeping the no-hit bid intact until Joaquin Benoit surrendered a single to Daniel Nava with one out in the ninth, though the hit came to naught as Benoit got Stephen Drew to fly out to Carlos Beltran in right field and Xander Bogaerts on a popup to short, securing the win.

Sanchez took the win, his second, against three losses, in post-season play. John Lester, despite pitching well for six innings, was saddled with the loss.

Michael Wacha

Game two of the series is slated for an 8:07 pm EDT start, Sunday evening at Fenway Park.

National League

Michael Wacha allowed no runs on five hits with a walk and eight strikeouts over 6 2/3 innings, as the Cardinals took their second straight from the LA Dodgers, 1-0, in St. Louis.

Wacha out-dueled LA ace, Clayton Kershaw, who took the loss, when David Freese came home on a Jon Jay sacrifice fly in the bottom of the fifth inning. Freese's double was one of just two hits allowed by Kershaw. The run was unearned because Freese took third base on a passed ball by A. J. Ellis, preceding Jay's sac fly.

Now 2-0 in post-season play, Wacha, the savvy rookie hurler, shut down the Pirates in the NLDS on October 7, allowing one run on one hit, going 7 1/3 innings for the 2-1 victory. Wacha has allowed just six hits and one run in 14 innings in the post-season, fanning 17.

Game three of the NL championship series will be held in LA, on Monday, at 8:07 pm EDT.

Today's Trivia: Who holds the record for strikeouts in a single post-season? (answer tomorrow)

Yesterday's Answer: Randy Johnson and Francisco Rodriguez each won five post-season games in a single season, Johnson in 2001, Rodriguez in 2002.