When the top two offenses in the American League square off in the ALCS, you expect them to put up some runs.
But as the old adage goes, good pitching beats good hitting.
Never was that more true than on Saturday as the Tigers took a 1-0 series lead over the Boston Red Sox with an improbable 1-0 victory.
It followed up the earlier 1-0 St. Louis Cardinals victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers, marking the only day in postseason history that two games finished with a 1-0 score.
Even more improbable was the fact that Anibal Sanchez, Al Alburquerque, Jose Veras and Drew Smyly had a combined no-hitter going into the ninth inning.
Tigers closer Joaquin Benoit gave up a one-out single to Daniel Nava in the ninth but got the last two batters to finish the game.
"I'm sorry, guys," Benoit told FOX Sports Detroit's John Keating on the field on the postgame show. "They did their job, they did their part. But it's a great feeling coming in to compete against the Red Sox, one of the best teams in baseball.
"To get the job done is an unbelievable feeling and to win the first game on the road, it's great."
Catcher Alex Avila told Keating he knew they had a no-hitter going.
"At that point I was aware," Avila said. "I'm not gonna lie, I wanted it. It would have been really nice, it would have been something special. But the win is more important."
Sanchez had one of the crazier lines, allowing no hits while walking six and striking out 12 in six innings. Although he had a no-hitter in progress, he had thrown 116 pitches.
"At this point, especially in this series, it's not about throwing a no-hitter," Sanchez said in the interview room. "As soon as you get some zeroes inning by inning, face hitter by hitter and get some outs, it's more important.
"I think the win is more important than the no-hitter."
Tigers manager Jim Leyland was asked in the interview room if he gave much consideration to the no-hitter.
"No, not really, particularly in a place like this because one run, you almost feel like you're behind in this ballpark with one run," Leyland said. "Walk and one swing of the bat with the Monster, although the ball wasn't really carrying tonight, you never feel comfortable.
"I wasn't really worried about a no-hitter. It would have been nice but with several guys involved, worked out fine for us."
Both Alburquerque and Veras delivered some of their most impressive performances of the season, Alburquerque with a two-strikeout scoreless seventh and Veras with strikeouts of Shane Victorino and Dustin Pedroia.
"One thing I really liked from Alburquerque tonight was his fastball," FOX Sports Detroit analyst Craig Monroe said. "I think Al Alburquerque has a 96-97 mile-per-hour fastball that he has to use to get guys off that really good Mr. Snappy, that slider that he's featuring.
"He did an outstanding job of establishing the fastball and then putting those guys away with the slider.
"What about Jose Veras? Tonight he was on with that good breaking ball, getting guys to swing and miss. He also pounded the fastball."
Left-hander Drew Smyly came in after Veras to face slugger David Ortiz. Ortiz flew out to end the eighth.
"It's stuff you dream about, facing Big Papi in the eighth inning, 1-0," Smyly said. "No one wants to give up the first hit of the game, but when you're up 1-0, just don't let anybody score, just hold the game where it is."
In total, Tigers pitchers had 17 strikeouts, setting a new franchise record and tying the major league record. Bob Gibson had 17 against the Tigers in 1968 and San Diego's Kevin Brown and Trevor Hoffman combined for 17 in 1998 against the Houston Astros in the NLDS.
The lone run was courtesy of -- who else? -- Jhonny Peralta, who had an RBI single in the sixth off Jon Lester, scoring Miguel Cabrera.
"He's been clutch since he's come back," Monroe said. "He's been a big part of what the Tigers have been missing in this offense. He's just productive. He has quality at-bats.
"I can't imagine a guy missing 50 games and coming back and swinging the bat as well as Jhonny Peralta has swung the bat."
Peralta is batting .500 in the postseason with three doubles, a home run and a team-leading six RBIs.
The Tigers have to like their chances going forward, considering they out-dueled Red Sox ace Lester with Max Scherzer and Justin Verlander set to pitch next for Detroit.
"I think what you're seeing is a lot of good pitching," Leyland said. "There were two playoff games played today and both were 1-0 scores. That tells you the kind of quality pitching that's in the postseason.
"We do have to do a little bit better with our opportunities but in this one we were able to hold on."
