Buchholz no-hit bid ends in 8th

Clay Buchholz was a nervous 23-year-old rookie when he threw a no-hitter in his second major league start. He was more relaxed when he nearly did it again on Sunday.

"A lot more than the last time it happened," the 28-year-old right-hander said after not allowing a hit until Kelly Johnson's broken-bat single leading off the eighth inning of Boston's 5-0 win over the Tampa Bay Rays.

Buchholz, who threw a no-hitter in just his second career start in 2007, allowed two hits and four walks in eight innings and struck out a career-high 11.

Johnson singled with a 0-1 count on Buchholz's 101st pitch, sending the ball over first baseman Mike Napoli while the top part of the bat landed near the front edge of the infield between first and second.

Buchholz (3-0) lowered his ERA to 0.41, allowing one earned run in 22 innings. He left after 109 pitches, and Andrew Miller finished with a one-hit ninth.

Elsewhere in the American League, Austin Jackson had four hits, homered and drove in three runs and Torii Hunter added two doubles and a triple as the Tigers routed the Athletics 10-1, the White Sox had a 3-1 win over the Indians, the Yankees beat the Orioles 3-0, the Angels beat the Astros 4-1 and the Mariners edged the Rangers 4-3.

In the National League, Justin Upton and Andrelton Simmons homered to help the Atlanta Braves to a 9-0 win over Washington. Philadelphia edged Miami 2-1, Pittsburgh had a 10-7 win over Cincinnati, San Francisco beat the Chicago Cubs 10-7 in 10 innings, Colorado held off San Diego 2-1 and Paul Goldschmidt hit a game-winning single off Josh Beckett with one out in the ninth inning to lift the Arizona Diamondbacks to a 1-0 win over the Los Angeles Dodgers.

At Oakland, Miguel Cabrera drove in two runs for the Tigers, who had 14 hits and won for the third time in four games. The first eight batters in the Tigers batting order had at least one hit, and seven players drove in runs.

Anibal Sanchez (2-0) overcame a sluggish start to pitch seven innings, winning his second straight outing and giving Detroit's bullpen a needed rest. He allowed one run, three hits and four walks, matching his season-high of eight strikeouts.

(China Daily 04/16/2013 page23)