8 must-see moments from Saturday's Tigers-Red Sox ALCS Game 1
The Red Sox and Tigers have been on a collision course all season, and wouldn't you know it -- they met up in the ALCS.
Game 1 saw Red Sox ace Jon Lester take on Tigers pitcher Anibal Sanchez. Would Sanchez be able to outpitch Lester? Would Miguel Cabrera crush some balls over the Green Monster? Would this Red Sox fan regret wearing a jersey from the early '90s?
Let's go to the GIFs:
While the early innings were mostly defined by excellent pitching, the bottom of the second inning saw former-Red Sox Jose Iglesias put on a bit of a UZR-show with this rangy play on a Jacoby Ellsbury ground ball:
The Red Sox had their own defensive successes in the top of the fifth, catching Jhonny Peralta trying to head back to second base on an Omar Infante fielder's choice:
And this putout of Infante at home after an Iglesias ground ball:
Eventually, someone had to break through -- and that someone would be Peralta, bringing home Miguel Cabrera on a soft fly ball to center field and giving the Tigers a 1-0 lead:
By the sixth inning, it became apparent that the Tigers were making a bid at history -- Anibal Sanchez had not allowed a hit.
He did, however, walk the bases loaded.
With two outs, Stephen Drew came up to hit, determined to give the Red Sox the lead. He didn't, and Sanchez was very, very happy:
Alas, Sanchez would be done for the night, and it would be on the bullpen to carry out the combined no-hitter. As the outs added up, Red Sox fans grew concerned:
But then, in the ninth, Daniel Nava gave the home faithful some hope with a one-out single to center -- breaking up the no-hitter for Detroit:
Quickly, Quintin Berry came on to pinch-run for Nava and successfully stole second base.
With two outs, it all came down to rookie Xander Bogaerts to bring Berry home from second and tie the game. But, Joaquin Benoit had other plans:
Iglesias clutched the ball close to his chest and the Tigers took Game 1 at Fenway Park, 1-0. Game 2 starts at 8 PM ET on Sunday in Boston.