Clan Events » Alexander felt Illinois won the game down in the post, w

ARLINGTON, Texas -- Anibal Sanchez was knocked out of the game early Saturday night, the second time in three games a Tigers starter hasnt made it out of the third against the Rangers. Elvis Andrus had a career-high five hits, Mitch Moreland homered and Texas roughed up Sanchez in the Rangers 7-2 victory over the Tigers. Sanchez (4-4) gave up a season-high six runs in 2 2-3 innings, his shortest start in almost two years. The right-hander yielded nine hits, walked two and struck out two as his ERA jumped from 2.05 to 2.77. Andrus ended Sanchezs night after 74 pitches with an RBI single that gave Texas a 6-2 lead. Tigers ace Justin Verlander gave up eight runs in 2 2-3 innings in Detroits 10-4 loss to the Rangers on Thursday night. "Sometimes you just dont have it and youre trying to do the best you could," Detroit catcher Alex Avila said. "When guys have been as consistent as (Sanchez) has or like Justin has, everybody gets really worried. But Im pretty confident hell have a pretty good start his next time around." Detroit has lost seven of 11 games and dropped a game behind the Cleveland Indians in the AL Central. Torii Hunter snapped an 0-for-15 slide with an RBI double and he scored two batters later on Prince Fielders single, bringing the Tigers within 4-2 in the third. Sanchez was gone soon after that. Moreland led off the bottom of the third with his 10th homer and Andrus run-scoring hit made it 6-2 and forced Sanchez out of the game. Sanchez threw 32 pitches in each of the first two innings. This was his shortest start since going 1 2-3 innings Aug. 10, 2011 as a member of the Marlins. "Its a bad outing," Sanchez said. "I dont have an excuse. We have to give credit to the team, they swung well." Andrus scored three runs, had two RBIs and stole a pair of bases as he hit leadoff for the second straight game in place of ailing second baseman Ian Kinsler. Andrus was a home run shy of the cycle and finished off his 5-for-5 game with a single to right in the eighth. The Texas shortstop admitted that he was swinging for a homer in his last at-bat against reliever Phil Coke. "(Adrian) Beltre told me to take three hard swings," Andrus said. "Try to go yard. Thats what I did, but the pitch was down. But Im really happy with a base hit." Texas starter Justin Grimm (3-3) gave up two runs in 6 2-3 innings to snap a three-game losing streak. The rookie allowed seven hits and struck out two while throwing a career-high 105 pitches. After allowing two runs in the third, Grimm retired 12 of the final 14 batters he faced and left to a standing ovation. He credited a pep talk from manager Ron Washington after the third inning for his success Saturday. "Wash got me in the dugout and told me to trust my stuff," Grimm said. "He kind of tapped me in the face and caught me off guard. Just hearing that he had confidence in me meant a lot." Andrus singled on Sanchezs first pitch of the game, then stole second and advanced to third on Avilas throwing error. The Texas shortstop scored on Avilas passed ball. The Rangers extended their lead to 4-0 with three runs in the second. Andrus got the inning going with an RBI triple that tipped the end of Hunters glove in right. Hunter said that he lost the ball in the lights. "I went to where I thought it was going to be and it wasnt there," Hunter said. "You cant catch something you cant see." Andrus scored on Sanchezs throwing error and Lance Berkman capped the second inning with an RBI single. Berkmans RBI double scored Andrus, who led off the sixth with a double. NOTES: Texas RHP Colby Lewis (elbow) and C A.J. Pierzynski (strained right oblique muscle) will begin rehab assignments Monday for Double-A Frisco. Lewis was removed from his rehab stint earlier in the week with triceps tendinitis, but he threw on the field Saturday with no problems. . Detroit manager Jim Leyland said he expects OF Austin Jackson (strained right hamstring) to return from the disabled list when he is eligible May 27. . Kinsler missed his second straight game with bruised ribs, an injury that was aggravated after he was hit by a pitch from Verlander on Thursday night. Fake NHL Jerseys . The Redskins announced Monday that the quarterback who led the team to the Super Bowl championship in the 1987 season will serve as a personnel executive. Fake Jerseys From China . -- The Magic have their first victory of the new year. http://www.fakejersey.com/ . -- Lou Brocks shoulder-to-shoulder collision with Bill Freehan during the 1968 World Series and Pete Roses bruising hit on Ray Fosse in the 1970 All-Star game could become relics of baseball history, like the dead-ball era. Fake Jerseys For Sale . -- Canadian Andrew Wiggins got the ball on the wing, made a nifty spin move and then let go with a soft floater from about 10 feet that swished through the net in Allen Fieldhouse. Fake Hockey Jerseys . Houston won 3-0 to advance to face New York in the Eastern Conference semifinals. Last in the game, Di Vaio and Romero got into a shoving match with several Houston players. Romero appeared to elbow and kick Houston defender Kofi Sarkodie. CHAMPAIGN, Ill. -- Malcolm Hill made sure Illinois didnt step off the gas pedal Friday night so that the Illini could took care of business against Detroit Mercy, 89-69.The senior, who scored 25 points, led his team to a quick start after the intermission, when his team was up 39-30 and it seemed like the Titans would close the gap even more.Im always in an aggressive attack more, but this was one of those games where I needed to start strong in the second half, Hill said.Illinois (4-0) continued its strong start to the season in the opening game of the NIT Season Tip-Off tournament.The Illini had little trouble scoring, shooting 27of 52 from the field and 8 of 19 from 3-point range. Friday marked the second straight game the Illini had difficulty shooting from the free throw line however, finishing 27of 38.Tracy Abrams continued to have a strong return to basketball, scoring 15 points and finishing with four rebounds, including 2 of 3 from 3-point range.Groce knows the importance a balanced offense can have on his team.If you can have a balance of paint touches with that outside shooting, it puts opponents in dilemmas, Groce said.Detroit Mercy (1-2) had trouble keeping up with Illinois fast offensive pace from the start of the game. The Titans never led.Josh McFolley and Jaleel Hogan both led the way with 16 points for a team that finished shooting 43 percent from the field and 24 percent from beyond the arc.The Titans fell behind in most categories against the Illini, butt Detroit Mercy head coach Bacari Alexander felt Illinois won the game down in the post, where the Illini won the rebound battle 39-29.ddddddddddddThey took advantage of those opportunities (in the post), Alexander said. (But) I like the direction this team is going in.BIG PICTUREIllinois: The Illini have played as they should against the type of opponents theyve faced so far this year. The team has one game left against relatively easy competition before facing No. 19 West Virginia at the Barclays Center in New York.Detroit Mercy: Although the game was never really close after the first few minutes, the Titans found some scoring opportunities and will need to continue to do that in the rest of the tournament.ROLE PLAYERGroce thought bench player D.J. Williams had his best overall performance of the year. The sophomore wing scored six points.LETDOWNAfter a strong start to the season, center Maverick Morgan had his worst night of the season, finishing with six points and zero rebounds and fouling out with more than five minutes left in the game.UP NEXTIllinois will continue play in the NIT Season Tip-Off tournament when it hosts Winthrop in Champaign on Monday.Detroit Mercy will try to bounce back Monday when it travels to Florida State to play its second game in the NIT Season Tip-Off.---More AP college basketball: http://collegebasketball.ap.org ' ' '