Tigers 7, Athletics 3: Anthony Gose's home run propels Detroit to series win

DETROIT -- It wasn't perfect and there were a lot of walks, but Anibal Sanchez had a better day on the mound. Backed by a red-hot offense and Anthony Gose's moonshot, the Detroit Tigers won 7-3 over the Oakland Athletics, giving them a 3-1 series win to wrap up the homestand.

Sanchez's old windup and delivery returned in a weird way. Sometimes his overt twist to second was there, sometimes it was nonexistent. When he ran into some traffic on back-to-back walks in the third, he had difficulty concentrating on both the baserunners and his altered delivery.

As a result, Billy Burns stole second and third, and later scored on Josh Reddick's RBI single. A leadoff home run in the fourth followed, but that was as bad as it got for Sanchez run-wise. He did allow seven walks, but he gave up only two runs and three hits, making this his best start of the year.

The Tigers offense, meanwhile, has peppered the ball for the second day in a row. Anthony Gose of all people obliterated a ball into deep right field, and all but one player (Victor Martinez) reached base at least once. The oddest run scored on V-Mart's flyout in the third, though, when J.D. Martinez and Miguel Cabrera pulled off a double steal to force a fielder's choice for a run scored.

Six of the 11 hits for the Tigers resulted in an extra-base hit. Nick Castellanos finished with two doubles, and Gose had a double and a home run. The only player without a hit or a walk was V-Mart, and even Justin Upton drove in a run on an RBI single.

ROARS:

Anibal Sanchez: Walked seven and gave up a home run, but he kept run-damage to a minimum. He struck out nine and allowed just three hits on 114 pitches.

Anthony Gose: Hit a two-run home run in the fourth inning, and a double in the third. After not hitting an extra-base hit since Opening Day, he had two.

9-3 hitters: Anthony Gose had the biggest day at the plate, but he was not the only one by far. Ian Kinsler, J.D. Martinez, and Miguel Cabrera combined were 7-for-12 with four runs, three walks, two doubles, and the home run by Gose.

Bullpen: Solid, per the usual. Kyle Ryan came on in relief in the sixth with runners on the corners and did not allow a run to score.

HISSES:

Blaine Hardy: Not his best day, though he didn't give anything up of consequence until the ninth. But after a double, walk, and an RBI single in the frame, he was pulled for Francisco Rodriguez with two outs.

STREAKS AND STATS:

• Anibal Sanchez's seven walks were the second-highest of his career in a single game. His highest came on Sept. 28, 2009 when he walked eight while with the Miami Marlins.
• Anthony Gose's double in the third inning marked his first non-home run extra-base hit of the season. He later homered in the fourth, his second of the season.
• Jarrod Saltalamacchia's triple in the fifth was the sixth of his career, and his first since Sept. 12, 2012, when he was still with the Boston Red Sox. He also homered and had a double in that game.

WIN PROBABILITY GRAPH:

Source: FanGraphs