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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
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GAME LOG
DETROIT (AP) – Steve Sparks and Chuck Finley made baseball's
problems with long games disappear.
|  | | Cleveland's Juan Gonzalez strikes out against Tigers starter Steve Sparks, who pitched a shutout. |
Sparks pitched a four-hitter to overcome Finley's three-hitter,
and the Detroit Tigers stopped a five-game losing streak by beating
the Cleveland Indians 1-0 Saturday.
The game took just 2 hours, 3 minutes, the fastest in Detroit
since Comerica Park opened a year ago.
"I felt like my seat in the dugout was spring-loaded," Finley
said. "As soon as I got a sip of water, the guys were telling me
to go get them again. I'm sure we made Bud Selig very happy."
Sparks (2-1) had his best outing since a five-hitter against
Seattle last Aug. 15, his only other shutout.
"He had the ball going in every different direction," Tigers
manager Phil Garner said. "He had dangerous stuff out there. The
key for a knuckleballer is to throw it for strikes, and he was
doing that."
Sparks struck out five and walked two in the sixth complete game
of his career. He had lost his previous four decisions against
Cleveland.
Sparks felt that the key to his performance was his ability to
spot all his pitches for strikes.
"Early in the game, I was throwing a cutter, a slurve and a
fastball and only about 75 percent knucklers," he said. "Later
on, when it started moving more, I was throwing almost all
knucklers."
Cleveland's Jim Thome said that the four-pitch repertoire is
what can make Sparks tough to hit.
"You never can just sit on the knuckleball because he can throw
harder stuff for strikes," Thome said. "When you are used to that
thing fluttering up at you, any fastball looks like 200 miles an
hour."
Finley (1-2) pitched his 61th complete game, his first since
last June 6 against Milwaukee. He struck out three and walked one.
"You can't be pleased because we lost the game," he said.
"But if I keep pitching like that, I'll take my chances all
season."
Detroit scored in the first when Roger Cedeno led off with an
infield single, stole second, took third on a fly ball and scored
on Bobby Higginson's sacrifice fly.
"When they got that run, I was happy to trade it for an out,"
Finley said. "But as the game went on, I started to realize that
the run was going to beat me."
Cleveland's best early scoring chance came in the fifth when Jim
Thome hit a one-out triple, but Sparks struck out Russell Branyan
and retired Eddie Taubensee on a groundout.
Sparks didn't allow another hit until Wil Cordero looped a
single leading off the eighth. Cordero took second on a passed
ball, but Sparks retired the next three batters.
"We had our chances, but we just didn't execute with runners on
base," Cleveland manager Charlie Manuel said. "We got Jimmy to
third and Wil to second, but couldn't get them over."
Game notes
Tony Clark, who sat out, has a career batting average of
.083 (2-for-24) against Finley with 11 strikeouts. ... As a tribute
to the Detroit Red Wings, who were playing a playoff game at nearby
Joe Louis Arena, a fan threw an octopus onto the field after the
sixth. ... Charles Nagy made a start in extended spring training
Friday, throwing seven innings with no pain. ... Cleveland had its
fewest hits this season.
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RECAPS
NY Yankees 3
Boston 2
Detroit 1
Cleveland 0
Toronto 5
Kansas City 4
Baltimore 6
Tampa Bay 5
Texas 9
Oakland 8
Minnesota 9
Chi. White Sox 4
Seattle 2
Anaheim 1
Cincinnati 1
NY Mets 0
Houston 7
St. Louis 4
Chicago Cubs 7
Pittsburgh 6
Colorado 9
Arizona 8
Philadelphia 2
Atlanta 1
Milwaukee 11
San Francisco 6
Montreal 8
Florida 2
San Diego 5
Los Angeles 4
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