Anibal Sanchez loses no-hitter in 8th inning, Tigers hold on to beat Blue Jays

Detroit Tigers pitcher Anibal Sanchez took a no-hitter into the eighth inning in an 8-6 win over the Toronto Blue Jays on Friday night at Comerica Park. Former Tigers outfielder Ezequiel Carrera singled to left field with one out in the eighth inning to break up Sanchez's chance at history.

Sanchez walked three before allowing a hit, and retired 16 straight batters at one point. But the hit opened the floodgates for Toronto, with Devon Travis and Ryan Goins following Carrera with singles of their own to knock Sanchez out of the game.

Down 8-0 to open the eighth, the Jays scored six in the inning and even brought the tying run to the plate.

Sanchez settled for 7⅓ innings, four runs allowed, three walks and five strikeouts.

With the win, Sanchez improved to 7-7 on the season, including 4-0 with a 2.61 ERA in his last five starts. The right-hander has lasted at least seven innings in each of his last seven outings.

Sanchez threw a no-hitter as a rookie with the Florida Marlins, beating the Arizona Diamondbacks, 2-0, on Sept. 6, 2006. That was the 13th career start for Sanchez, who made his 211th career start on Friday night.

He also allowed no hits in six innings against the Boston Red Sox in Game 1 of the 2013 ALCS, but was pulled after six walks and 116 pitches in what ultimately was a combined one-hitter for Detroit.

The win snapped a three-game losing streak for the Tigers (40-39), who avoided falling below .500 for the first time all season.