Die Berge » Crawford Boxes in left field to cut the lead to 8-2 in the sixt

DETROIT -- Brad Ausmus pointed out Monday afternoon that no one is going to roll over and hand his Detroit Tigers the AL Central title. Hours later, rookie Chris Bassitt and the White Sox proved the manager right. Bassitt pitched into the eighth inning for his first major league win, Tyler Flowers hit a two-run homer and Chicago slowed Detroits playoff push with a 2-0 victory. "This is competitive athletics, and no one is just going to hand you a game," Ausmus said. "I talked about it before the game -- those guys in the other clubhouse are playing for their futures, and they are playing to win, because thats what you do in this league. Were going to have to win these last games on our own." Detroit is one game ahead of the second-place Royals, who beat Cleveland 2-0 in their regularly scheduled game Monday night. Hours earlier, the Indians finished off a victory in a suspended game against Kansas City. The loss assured Detroit would start a division series on the road, even if it wins the AL Central. "Weve got six games left, and weve got control of our fate," reliever Joba Chamberlain said. "Thats all you can ask for at this point. If we do our jobs, well win the division." The game turned into an unexpected pitchers duel between Bassitt and fellow rookie Kyle Lobstein. Both were making their fifth career start, but they looked like aces in the middle of a pennant race. Bassitt (1-1) went 7 2-3 innings and pitched out of two early jams in front of about 100 family members and friends. "The first win always means a lot, but being so close to home and having my friends and family here makes it even better," said Bassitt, who grew up in Curtice, Ohio, about an hour south of Comerica Park. "Some of my friends said they were hoping that Id get a no-decision in a Tigers win, though." Bassitt, who lost to the Tigers on Aug. 30, gave up six hits, walked one batter -- the last one he faced -- and struck out Alex Avila three times but no one else. Jake Petricka got four outs for his 14th save. "He located his pitches tonight, which he didnt really do against us the first time," Ian Kinsler said. "Every pitcher in this league is tough when they can locate their stuff." Lobstein (1-1) was trying for his second victory, but didnt get any offensive support. He allowed two runs on five hits and a walk in a career-best seven innings. Chicago took a 2-0 lead with a two-out rally in the second. Carlos Sanchez hit a ground-rule double to left-centre and, on the next pitch, Flowers lined a homer into the White Sox bullpen. "I was looking for something out over the plate," Flowers said. "If it was a fastball, I wanted to think right-centre, and if it was an off-speed pitch, I wanted to hit it to left. Thats what happened." Detroit had a pair of early threats, but Kinsler was caught stealing in the first inning -- leaving the bases empty for Miguel Cabreras 50th double. Right fielder Avisail Garcia robbed Cabrera of a probable RBI double with a sliding catch in the third. "He showed some composure out there, and he competed. That was a nice little outing for him," White Sox manager Robin Ventura said of his young pitcher. Cabrera hit another ball hard off Bassitt in the eighth, but his line drive was right at Moises Sierra in left. Victor Martinez drew a walk, and Petricka came in to strike out J.D. Martinez. "That last at-bat for Cabrera, I just didnt want to walk him," Bassitt said. "I was thinking that he might hit one off the scoreboard, but Im not going to walk him. Luckily, he hit it right at somebody." TRAINERS ROOM White Sox: OF Adam Eaton, who has missed the last two games for personal reasons, is expected to join the team in time for Tuesdays game in Detroit. Tigers: Avila (concussion) was a late addition to the lineup after the team was able to get his paperwork approved by Major League Baseball about 45 minutes before the first pitch. ... Detroit will activate RHP Anibal Sanchez (pectoral strain) from the disabled list Tuesday, and he will pitch out of the bullpen for the rest of the season. UP NEXT Detroit will try to even the series behind LHP David Price (14-12, 3.37 ERA). Scott Carroll (5-10, 5.01) goes for the White Sox. HONORING KONERKO The Tigers will honour retiring White Sox slugger Paul Konerko before Tuesdays game. Konerko has homered 18 times at Comerica Park, one fewer than David Ortiz for the most by a visiting player, and his 206 total bases are 63 more than second-place Justin Morneau. Konerko also homered off Justin Thompson at Tiger Stadium in 1999, a game caught by Ausmus. "I remember Paul when he came up with the Dodgers, but you obviously remember him most in Chicago," Ausmus said. "Hes had a lot of great years with the White Sox, and I think hell get a lot of Hall of Fame votes in a few years." Basketball Jerseys Black Friday .That is precisely what they got Sunday.The Ravens trailed at halftime and never built a comfortable lead against lowly Jacksonville, yet did just enough to squeeze out a 20-12 win to stay in the thick of the AFC playoff race. Fake Basketball Jerseys Free Shipping . Austin does not believe the game-time temperature is going to be an advantage for either side heading into the Grey Cup. "We dont think about (the cold)," said Austin. "Im not even sure how you would determine an advantage. https://www.fakebasketballjerseys.com/ . Cammalleri suffered a concussion in the Flames 2-1 loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins on Saturday. The 31-year-old forward did not travel with the team to Carolina. Cheap Basketball Jerseys . The 23-year-old Neustaedter will move at the end of the season when his contract with Moenchengladbach expires. He signed a four-year deal with Schalke. Fake Basketball Jerseys . Globo TV and other news outlets said early Monday that Scolari will not remain as coach after the national teams failure to win the World Cup at home.HOUSTON -- The most recent addition to the Red Sox lineup made a big contribution. Rookie Christian Vazquez got his first three major league hits and drove in three runs, while David Ortiz had three RBIs to break open the game in the sixth inning and lead Boston over the Houston Astros 8-3. Vazquez, who was playing in his second big league game, singled in the third inning, had an RBI double in the fourth and drove home two more with a double in a five-run sixth. Fellow rookie Brock Holt doubled and tripled with an RBI and another rookie, Jackie Bradley Jr., added two hits for Boston. "Were playing with a lot of energy," manager John Farrell said. "Guys that have come up recently have injected some of that into us, but more than anything were getting the timely hit." Vazquez was thrilled about his big night and shared the first thing he thought of after collecting his first hit. "My mom," he said. "I was laughing and very happy about that." Ortiz drove in three runs with a double in the sixth to make it 8-1. "The thing that stood out was the number of extra-base hits that (have) been somewhat elusive," Farrell said. "David with a big bases-loaded RBI double, Christian Vazquez with a very solid night all the way around ... just a good offensive showing." John Lackey (10-6) rebounded from a tough stretch to allow four hits and two runs with a season-high five walks in six innings. He had allowed five or more runs in each of his previous three starts. Scott Feldman (4-6) allowed seven runs and tied a season-high with 11 hits in 5 1-3 innings. "It just looks like there is not a lot of finish," Houston manager Bo Porter said. "When he was really good early on in the year, there was finish to the fastball, there was late life, there was sharpness to the breaking ball." Houstons Chris Carter homered twice for his fourth multihomer game of the season and his second this week. He extended his hitting streak to a career-high seven games. Daniel Nava and Bradley got things goiing for the Red Sox in the sixth with consecutive singles.dddddddddddd Feldman intentionally walked Stephen Drew to load the bases with one out. Vazquezs double made it 5-1 and chased Feldman. He was replaced by Darin Downs, who walked Holt to load the bases again. Ortizs bases-clearing double to right-centre came next. Holts RBI triple, which bounced off the bullpen in right-centre and away from L.J. Hoes, gave Boston a 1-0 lead in the third. Dustin Pedroia followed with a double to the corner of left field to make it 2-0. Drew tripled with two outs in the fourth inning before scoring on a ground-rule double by Vazquez to push the lead to 3-0. Lackey walked two batters through the first three innings and two more in the fourth before Houston got its first hit on an RBI single by Enrique Hernandez that cut the lead to 3-1 with two outs. Carters 18th home run landed in the first row in the Crawford Boxes in left field to cut the lead to 8-2 in the sixth. Hes the first Astro to have at least 18 homers in the first half of the season in consecutive years since Lance Berkman in 2008-09. Soon after Carter returned to the dugout following his homer, and as the Astros were still celebrating, a foul ball hit by Robbie Grossman sailed into the dugout and came within inches of hitting Carter in the face. He dropped to the ground after it flew by as his teammates shook their heads at the close call. "I just heard heads up (and) it came right at my head," he said. "I moved, and it hit the wall." He homered again on his next at-bat, launching a 91 mph fastball to left field, where it clanged off the foul pole to make it 8-3 in the eighth and give him six homers in his last seven games. NOTES: Astros OF George Springer was scratched about an hour before the game with discomfort in his right knee. He is listed as day to day. ... Houston LHP Brett Oberholtzer will be recalled from Triple-A Oklahoma City to start on Saturday against Jake Peavy. He will start in place of Collin McHugh, who is dealing with a finger blister. ' ' '