OAKLAND, Calif. Stitched NHL Jerseys . -- With the season on the line once more in Oakland, Justin Verlander pitched another Game 5 gem. Verlander carried a no-hit bid into the seventh inning and Miguel Cabrera homered to lead the Detroit Tigers past the Athletics 3-0 Thursday night and back into the AL championship series. Joaquin Benoit retired Seth Smith on a fly ball with two on in the ninth to close out the deciding game of their division series. The Tigers became the first team to reach the ALCS in three straight years since the New York Yankees from 1998-2001. Anibal Sanchez will start Game 1 in Boston on Saturday. The Tigers went 4-3 against the Red Sox this year. They have never faced each other in the post-season. Detroit staved off elimination at home in Game 4, overcoming a three-run deficit on Tuesday. Behind Verlander, the Tigers never trailed in the clincher. The big right-hander gave up a clean, two-out single to Yoenis Cespedes in the seventh to end his chance at the third no-hitter in post-season history. The hit hardly fazed him, however. On a night he allowed only three baserunners, Verlander made it a post-season-record 30 straight scoreless innings against one team since Coco Crisp hit a leadoff home run for the As in Game 1 last October. Just 364 days earlier, Verlander tossed a four-hit, 6-0 masterpiece in Game 5 in this very ballpark, a 122-pitch performance for his first career post-season shutout and complete game. He nearly matched that with a spectacular 111-pitch outing in a rematch of his thrilling pitchers duel with rookie Sonny Gray five days earlier in Game 2. "It felt good out there," Verlander said. "Its the first time in a while my changeups been really good. Obviously this lineup with a bunch of left-handed hitters that was a big pitch for me." Aching slugger Cabrera hit a two-run homer in the fourth off with a drive into the left-field seats for his first homer since Sept. 17 and just his third extra-base hit in 99 at-bats. That ended a 20-inning scoreless streak by the Tigers at the Coliseum. Gray danced with danger from the start with stuff not nearly as crisp as just five nights before when he matched zeros with the 2011 AL MVP and Cy Young Award winner. This time, Verlander didnt allow a baserunner until Josh Reddick drew a one-out walk in the sixth -- but the no-hit bid remained until Cespedes single the next inning. The hardest hit ball was a fly to the centre-field warning track by Stephen Vogt in the sixth. Verlander struck out 10 in eight innings, giving him 21 Ks in these two starts. He has 43 strikeouts in his four playoff outings against Oakland the past two years. The As saw their season end at the hands of Detroit for the third time in as many postseasons, including in a four-game sweep in the 2006 ALCS. Oakland has lost its last six winner-take-all Game 5s and fell to 1-12 in potential clinchers since 2000. The As struck out 57 times for the most in a best-of-five playoff series. Verlander earned the nod for the decider after Game 1 winner Max Scherzer pitched in relief of an 8-6, season-saving win Game 4 in Detroit. Manager Jim Leyland had no qualms turning again to Verlander, who went 13-12 this season. When asked before the game about his bullpen availability, Leyland nodded his head and quipped, "Verlander, hes available." Gray, meanwhile, looked overmatched this time. He wiped his brow and never looked comfortable. As manager Bob Melvin went with Gray over 18-game winner and 40-year-old Bartolo Colon, who yielded three first-inning runs to lose Game 1. These Game 5s becoming awfully familiar for both sides in their recent October rivalry. Detroit held another clinching party in the visiting clubhouse of the Oakland Coliseum, where a raucous crowd of 46,959 swirled yellow towels until Benoit threw his hands in the air at the final out. Catcher Alex Avila met Benoit in front of the mound for a long embrace as their teammates quickly joined them -- with cheers of "Lets go Oakland!" still ringing out. The Tigers came together near the mound for a unique chant in which they squatted in unison and raised their hands in the air. The 93-win Tigers are determined to take the next step and win a championship after being swept in four games of the 2012 World Series by the San Francisco Giants. "Thats the motivation that weve been looking for, that weve had all year," Verlander said. "Guys like Torii (Hunter) who wasnt a part of our team last year, he comes in and hes got that urge. He wants to win that championship before he retires. Everybody else that was here that had a taste of that last year how much it hurts, its that extra driving factor." The 23-year-old Gray, pitching to chants of "Sonny! Sonny!" in his 12th career start, returned for the sixth inning at 92 pitches but was done once he allowed consecutive singles to Victor Martinez and Jhonny Peralta. Omar Infante then drove in the third run with a fielders choice grounder off Dan Otero. Along the 880 freeway just outside the Coliseum, a billboard blared: "ITS ALWAYS SONNY IN THE TOWN." The only thing sunny was the outfield for the early evening start, which had players shielding their eyes to deal with tricky shadows and sun angles. Center field and right field initially played in bright sun. Rookie starters have lost their last six winner-take-all post-season games since Daisuke Matsuzaka beat Cleveland in the 2007 ALCS for Boston. Grays curveball had less break and he never found the same groove that carried him in his playoff debut. It was a breezy Bay Area night and 19 degrees cooler at first pitch than the 82 degrees in a game starting an hour later Saturday night. This marks another disappointing exit for the low-budget As, who have baseballs 27th smallest payroll at $71.1 million after having the lowest at $59.5 million last year. Both managers tweaked their lineups, most notably in the middle infield with Peralta back at shortstop for Detroit and the As Alberto Callaspo playing second base in his first career post-season start. Peralta, who served a 50-game suspension until late September for his ties to the Biogenesis clinic accused of distributing performance-enhancing drugs, hit a three-run homer in Game 4 to help extend Detroits season. NOTES: Verlander tried for just the third no-hitter in post-season history and first since Philadelphias Roy Halladay no-hit Cincinnati on Oct. 6, 2010. Don Larsen pitched a perfect game for the New York Yankees against Brooklyn in the World Series on Oct. 8, 1956. ... Brandon Moss struck out 13 times in 18 at-bats. Detroits Austin Jackson fanned 13 times in 20 at-bats. Cheap Adidas NHL Jerseys . UEFA said Wednesday that the champions of England and France only have to include five home-trained players in their 21-man squads next season instead of the expected eight. Only one of the five players needs to be trained by the club itself. Fake Adidas NHL Jerseys . Thaddeus Young scored seven of his 25 points in the fourth quarter, Evan Turner added 22 points, and the 76ers hung on for their first road win since Nov. 1, beating the depleted Los Angeles Lakers 111-104 on Sunday night. http://www.cheapnhlcustomjerseys.com/ . But unfortunately for the Niagara Falls, Ont., native, a pulled muscle wouldnt allow him to go past the second set. Japan sealed its victory over Canada in the first-round Davis Cup tie after Nishikori downed an ailing Dancevic 6-2, 1-0.Nassau, Bahamas (SportsNetwork.com) - The fifth-ranked North Carolina Tar Heels and the 18th-ranked Florida Gators will duke it out for fifth place in the Battle 4 Atlantis tournament on Friday night at Imperial Arena. UNC came into this event as one of the favorites but had its championship aspirations squashed in the quarterfinals with a 74-66 loss to Butler. The Tar Heels were able to bounce back nicely on Thursday with a convincing 78-56 triumph in a showdown with UCLA to improve to 4-1 on the season. Florida had already shown to be vulnerable early in the season with a 69-67 home loss to Miami-Florida on Nov. 17, and its struggles continued in the quarterfinals with a 66-65 overtime loss to Georgetown to fall to the consolation side of the bracket. The Gators had a difficult time with UAB on Thursday but eventually captured a 56-47 victory to move to 3-2. These two historic programs have met just five times before, with UNC holding a 3-2 advantage. In the only meeting in the past 40 years, the Tar Heels won back in 2000, 71-59. The Tar Heels put together an 18-4 run to close out the first half of their contest with UCLA on Thursday and cruised from there to capture the 22-point victory. They shot a modest 41.8 percent from the field and drained eight 3- pointers, but they really shined on the defensive end of the floor, holding UCLA to less than 39 percent shooting (including just 1-of-14 from 3-point range) while forcing 23 turnovers, which they turned into 31 points. Marcus Paige put up a game-high 21 points to go with five assists and three steals. Justin Jackson added 12 points and Isaiah Hicks and J.. Fake NHL Jerseys. P. Tokoto chipped in 10 points apiece. On the season, North Carolina lives comfortably in terms of its scoring (+18.4 ppg), rebounding (+5.2) and turnover (+4.6) margins, while outshooting its opponents from the field, 44.9 percent to 33.9 percent. Despite shooting under 38 percent from the floor, Paige still leads the way with 15.0 ppg. Kennedy Meeks is a nightly double-double threat with 13.0 ppg and 9.0 rpg. Brice Johnson (11.8 ppg, 6.2 rpg) and Jackson (11.6 ppg) are also consistently reliable options. The Gators struggled to put UAB away on Thursday and even trailed by two inside of four minutes remaining, but they closed the game out in style by scoring the final 11 points to capture the nine-point victory. It was far from their most impressive shooting performance - they shot just 34 percent from the floor, including 7-of-23 from 3-point range - but they won the rebounding battle (39-30) and forced UAB into a game-high 16 turnovers. Michael Frazier II drained three 3-pointers on his way to a game-high 14 points, Chris Chiozza came off the bench to score 13 points and swipe six steals and Jon Horford logged eight points and eight rebounds. Florida has played outstanding defense all season long, yielding a mere 56.6 ppg, but its effort on the offensive end of the floor has lagged behind, as it shoots a lowly 40.1 percent from the field for 63.4 ppg. Frazier pours in 14.8 ppg to lead the team while adding 6.0 rpg and more than a steal per game as well. Dorian Finney-Smith (12.3 ppg, 5.0 rpg), Eli Carter (11.7 rpg) and Horford (11.0 ppg, 7.0 rpg) are also off to solid starts. ' ' '  |
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