Sanchez strikes out 17 as Tigers shutout Braves, 10-0

Anibal Sanchez pitched in a new record in Detroit by striking out 17 Braves as the Tigers scored four runs in the 3rd inning and six more in the 4th to shutout Atlanta, 10-0. Atlanta came into the game with the best record in the league at 15-6.

Sanchez (3-1) struck out two in the 1st inning, three in the 2nd (around a double and a walk), two in the 3rd, one in the 4th, and two more in the 5th. He then rung up two more in the 6th & 7th inning and struck out the side in the 8th to set the record. The Tigers right-hander broke the 44-year record set twice in 1969 by Mickey Lolich, who struck out 16 against California (Angels) and Seattle that season.

Matt Tuiasosopo hit a three-run homerun in the 4th inning off of Anthony Varvaro, giving him a personal best five RBIs on the night. Victor Martinez also chipped in with two doubles and two RBIs of his own. Braves starter Paul Maholm was slammed with eight runs on 10 hits, in 3 2/3 innings of work for the loss, which ended up being his shortest outing of the season.

Detroit hopes to make it two wins in a row this Saturday afternoon when they send Rick Porcello (0-2, 11.08) to the mound to face Kris Medlan(1-2, 2.16) for a 1:05 pm start.