Sanchez, Detroit bullpen hold Sox to one hit in ALCS-opening victory

BOSTON – An early indication that Detroit Tigers pitcher Anibal Sanchez had crazy-good stuff Saturday night came in the first inning when he had to strike out four batters because his catcher let one of them go through his legs to the backstop, allowing Shane Victorino to reach first base.That first inning was a portent of several things to come. Sanchez, again and again, pitched his way through wildness and out of jams. He ended up striking out 12 batters (and the Sox fanned 17 times all together), and the home team managed but one hit in a 1-0 loss to the Tigers in the opening game of the American League Championship series,The maddening part, from the Red Sox perspective, is that the Red Sox did what they wanted to do. Sanchez could only go six innings ? despite working on a no-hitter ? because he?d thrown 113 pitches (the last one a strikeout of Stephen Drew with the bases loaded). This is the Red Sox tried and true strategy. Work the count and pile up the pitches.It would have worked ? except that every pitcher thereafter was just as filthy as Sanchez was.?Whether it was Sanchez or every guy the brought out of the bullpen, it was all power stuff,” said Sox manager John Farrell. “And, they all had a secondary pitch they could go to.”Sanchez came into the playoffs as the league earned run average leader. He could hit over 90 on the gun when he had to, but his most effective pitches and curves and sliders with sharp bites that had the Red Sox checking their swings all night long (they had to have set a modern-day record for check-swing strikes).It was clear from the outset that the Red Sox had no answers for Sanchez ? and it didn?t get much better against the succession of relievers that came after him. In fact, the only Red Sox hit came in the ninth inning off Tigers closer Joaquin Benoit when Daniel Nava fisted one into center field. But ? as with every other Red Sox opportunity ? nothing came of it. Speedster Quintin Berry pinch ran, and ? with two out (Drew gave it a ride, but the ball died in right field) ? he stole second. And he stayed there, as Xander Bogaerts put up a competitive at-bat before popping to shortstop to end the game.Berry?s presence on first base worried Benoit, who threw two straight balls to Drew before Detroit?s pitching coach, Jeff Jones, rushed to the mound to talk to his reliever.?We went (Jones) out there to say, ?hey, don?t get distracted, don?t let it get to you ? you don?t want to get crazy and worry so much about the runner that somebody hits it out of the ballpark.”It was after that visit that Drew flied to right. Bogaerts, who came into the game for Will Middlebrooks in the top of the eighth inning, was up when Berry finally swiped second.It was a strange game for a number of reasons. The Tigers had two runners thrown out on the bases ? in the same inning, no less ? and still won. The Red Sox made two superlative defensive plays ? one in the fifth inning when, after Jhonny Peralta doubled, Mike Napoli, playing in, threw him out on a hard-hit ground ball; and again when Drew went well into centerfield to catch Julio Iglesias? popup with the bases loaded in the ninth ? and still lost.And, of course, there was the whole idea of running up Sanchez?s pitches.Detroit got its run in the top of the sixth inning with only Peralta getting a hit. With one out, Miguel Cabrera drew a walk off Jon Lester, and Prince Fielder was hit by a pitch.Victor Martinez, not an especially fast runner, hit a medium-speed ball to short. Drew rushed his throw to Dustin Pedroia, who had to pivot and throw to first. Martinez beat by a little less than a step. Peralta ? who had been suspended for 50 games earlier in the season in the same human grown hormone dragnet that caused Alex Rodriguez to be suspended for more than 200 games, dumped a single into center field that scored Cabrera with the game?s only run.The Red Sox, on the other hand, had runners in scoring position in the first, second, sixth and ninth innings an