White Sox stay on top
MINNEAPOLIS – Francisco Liriano (6-11) was tremendous against his former team, pitching a nohitter into the seventh inning as the Chicago White Sox beat the Minnesota Twins, 5-3, on Saturday to retain the American League Central lead.
Liriano only allowed a two-out homer to Trevor Plouffe. e walked two, hit a batter and struck out nine in seven innings.
Paul Konerko homered and drove in three runs for the White Sox, who entered the day with a one game lead over Detroit in the Central.
Detroit‘s Anibal Sanchez took also no-hitter into the seventh inning as the Detroit Tigers officially eliminated Cleveland Indians from the playoffs with a 5-3 win despite losing a run on an appeal.
Sanchez (3-5) struck out seven batters over 6 2-3 innings, but Carlos Santana spoiled his no-hit bid with a two-out triple in the seventh.
In other L games, the San Francisco Giants edged the Arizona Diamondbacks, 3-2, the Houston Astros blanked the Philadelphia Phillies, 5-0, the Milwaukee Brewers downed the New York Mets, 9-6, the San Diego Padres beat the Colorado Rockies, 4-3, and the Los Angeles Dodgers rallied for a 4-3 win over the St. Louis Cardinals.
In the AL, Stephen Drew homered and made a pair of big defensive plays to back Jarrod Parker as the Oakland Athletics beat the Baltimore Orioles, 5-2, and the New York Yankees got back-toback home runs from Curtis Granderson and Eduardo Nunez in a 5-3 victory over the Tampa Bay Rays.