Bruce Chen (11-13) gave up RBI singles by Prince Fielder and Delmon Young in the first inning and Anibal Sanchez threw a three hit shutout as the Royals lost at Detroit 2-0. The Tigers have tied the White Sox for first.
Sanchez struck out 10 and walked one. Only one Royals batter got the ball out of the infield until Alex Gordon and Billy Butler broke up the perfect game bid with consecutive singles in the fourth for the Royals. Sanchez got out of that jam when Salvador Perez’s line drive was snagged by third baseman Miguel Cabrera.
Chen managed to keep it a ball game despite the Tigers hit six singles in the first two innings. However, Chen was able to limit the damage by getting out of a bases-loaded, nobody-out situation in the second. Omar Infante hit a shallow fly, and Cabrera and Fielder both struck out.