Tigers 6, Reds 0: Anibal Sanchez dominates in two-hit shutout

DETROIT -- Anibal Sanchez was nearly perfect, absolutely dominating the Cincinnati Reds for a complete game shutout. Backed by strong offensive support off the bats of Miguel Cabrera and J.D. Martinez, the Detroit Tigers won 6-0 over the Reds, Sanchez retiring the last 16 batters he faced.

Sanchez (5-7) wasn't just good. He was lights-out. After a strong performance in his last start, Sanchez topped that and gave up just two hits, both weak singles that never advanced past second. Aided by stellar defense once again, Sanchez breezed through the Reds lineup and didn't walk a batter, striking out seven.

Reds starter Jon Moscot threw just seven pitches before he was taken out of the game for a dislocated left shoulder. Moscot, fielding a ground ball, threw out Anthony Gose who attempted to steal second on Miguel Cabrera's fielder's choice. But Moscot and Gose collided, and the starter went down grasping his left arm in pain. He was removed from the game, replaced with right-handed pitcher Pedro Villarreal.

While the Tigers offense was slow going, they eventually got to Reds pitching. Thanks in part due to poor defense by the Reds, Detroit got on the board on a double by Yoenis Cespedes and a single by J.D. Martinez, who advanced to second on a throwing error in the fourth. From there, the Tigers just piled on the runs. The sixth produced a four-spot, wherein Cabrera smoked a two-run double, and J.D. Martinez obliterated a baseball to right field for a two-run home run.

An RBI single in the seventh made it a 6-0 lead thanks to Cespedes' multi-hit day. Jose Iglesias reached base three times and both Gose and Kinsler reached twice. The Tigers tallied 11 hits against Reds pitching, with only James McCann and Rajai Davis going 0-fer, and four of the seven batters had two-hit days.

ROARS:

Anibal Sanchez: Nine solid innings of shutout-ball, allowing just two hits and striking out seven in that time.

J.D. Martinez: Two-run home run and a run-scoring single that scored a third run.

Miguel Cabrera: Knocked a two-run double, reached on a fielder's choice, and got a single later in the game. He also flashed the leather defensively.

HISSES:

Rajai Davis: Rajai was a DH that didn't H tonight. He went 0-for-4 with a strikeout.

STREAKS AND STATS:

• Monday night's start was the 1,000th career game for Rajai Davis.
• The Tigers stole two bases on Monday night, giving them the American League lead, with 51 as a team.
• The two stolen bases by Anthony Gose marked his 10th and 11th of the season, second-most on the team. Rajai Davis leads the team, with 14.
• J.D. Martinez has homered in three straight games for the second time in his career, his last occurring on June 18-20, 2014. Martinez extended his hitting streak to nine straight games, and recorded his 17th multi-hit game of the season.
• In the last four games, Miguel Cabrera and J.D. Martinez are batting a combined .560/.621/1.440 with 16-of-37 runs driven in, five home runs, three doubles, and four walks. Who cares about sample sizes, that's insane.
• Anibal Sanchez's CGSHO was the longest outing this season, his longest since May 14 when he went eight innings against the Minnesota Twins. Sanchez's last complete game was on May 24, 2013, also the date of his last shutout. Dating back to his start on June 3 against the Oakland Athletics, Sanchez hasn't allowed a run in 20 2/3 innings pitched.
• Miguel Cabrera has reached base safely in 31 of his last 32 games, hitting safely in 25 of his last 30. Monday night marked Cabrera's 21st multi-hit game of the season.
• Yoenis Cespedes extended his hitting streak to nine games, also recording his 25th multi-hit game of the season, which ranks as a tie for second in the AL.
• Jose Iglesias finished 2-for-3 with a walk on Monday night, marking his 14th multi-hit game of the season and hitting safely in 16 of his last 18 games.

WIN PROBABILITY GRAPH:

Source: FanGraphs