Sabathia Keeps Tigers Punchless, Winless

For C.C. Sabathia, having no-hit stuff for seven innings is nothing new. It was trying for an eighth inning that proved to be the challenge.

Sabathia, who pitched 11 seven-inning no-hitters in high school, had his no-hit bid end Sunday when Randall Simon singled to lead off the eighth inning, and the Cleveland Indians went on to defeat the winless Detroit Tigers, 5-1, Sunday at Detroit.

“I threw him a slider and he got it,” Sabathia said. “I’d been throwing him sliders all game, and I should have figured out that he would make the adjustment.”

Sabathia got 11 outs on fly balls and popups, which he credited to Comerica Park and the 42-degree weather. Center fielder Milton Bradley had nine putouts.

“It’s a big ballpark on a cold day,” he said. “No one wants to hit one on the fists or off the end of the bat on a day like this, so I was throwing them inside and off the plate.”

After Simon lined a clean single to center on the first pitch of the eighth, Jose Macias hit into a double play. Wendell Magee reached on an infield single and Andres Torres had an RBI triple for his first major league hit.

Paul Shuey and Bob Wickman finished the four-hitter, completing Cleveland’s first sweep at Detroit since 1996. Wickman entered with the bases loaded and got his third save when Simon grounded into a game-ending double play.

Sabathia (1-0), who struck out two and walked two, was trying to be the first Cleveland pitcher to throw a no-hitter since Len Barker’s perfect game against Toronto on May 15, 1981.

At 0-6, the Tigers are off to their worst start since 1992. The team record for losses at the start of a season is 13, set in 1920.

New York 7, Tampa Bay 2--Roger Clemens completed a near-perfect turn through the Yankee rotation, giving up one earned run in 71/3 innings as the Yankees swept the Devil Rays at New York.

Jason Giambi drove in his first run with the Yankees and Derek Jeter had three hits and three RBIs for New York, which has won five in a row since losing, 10-3, on opening day in Baltimore.

Yankees starting pitchers had not given up a run since that game until the Devil Rays scored an unearned run in the sixth. That ended New York’s 23-inning scoreless streak and a 331/3-inning stretch by the starters.

Giambi, three for 21 this season, got a standing ovation after his run-scoring single in the eighth. Giambi, who has been booed much of his first weekend in New York, laughed as he left for pinch-runner Ron Coomer.

Minnesota 10, Toronto 6--Corey Koskie hit a three-run homer in the first inning at Toronto and Torii Hunter also had three RBIs as the Twins won their third in a row.

Dustan Mohr and David Ortiz also homered for the Twins, who won three of four against the Blue Jays.

Chris Woodward and Raul Mondesi homered for the Blue Jays.

Kansas City 9, Chicago 2--Chuck Knoblauch ended an 0-for-16 skid with a two-run double in the seventh inning at Kansas City, Mo.

A day after Kansas City lost 14-0 to the White Sox, Jeff Suppan (1-0) held them to one run and six hits and no walks in seven innings. The only run he allowed came on Frank Thomas’ broken-bat homer in the first.

Oakland 6, Seattle 5--Rookie Carlos Pena hit his fourth home run and Eric Chavez returned to the lineup with a homer and three RBIs as the Athletics won at Seattle.

Tim Hudson (1-0) pitched six solid innings, giving up one run and four hits. The A’s took two of three in a series matching teams that reached the playoffs the last two seasons.