White Sox maintain perch atop AL Central

MINNEAPOLIS — Francisco Liriano took a no-hitter into the seventh inning, Paul Konerko homered and drove in three runs Saturday, and the Chicago White Sox stayed on top of the AL Central with a 5-3 victory over the Minnesota Twins.

The White Sox entered the day with a one game lead over Detroit in the Central.

Liriano (6-11) was tremendous against his former team, allowing only a two-out homer in the seventh to Trevor Plouffe. He walked two, hit a batter and struck out nine in seven innings.

Samuel Deduno (6-4) struggled with his control from the start, throwing only 40 of his 86 pitches for strikes.

CLEVELAND — Anibal Sanchez took a no-hitter into the seventh inning and Detroit beat the Indians despite losing a run on an appeal play.

Sanchez (3-5) struck out seven over 6 2/3 innings as Detroit stayed one game behind the first place Chicago White Sox in the AL Central with its fourth straight win.

Carlos Santana spoiled Sanchez's no-hit bid with a two-out triple in the seventh, but Cleveland was officially eliminated from the playoffs after falling to 16-45 since the All-Star break. Starter Justin Masterson (11-14) took the loss.

TORONTO — Pedro Ciriaco drove in the tiebreaking run with a two-out double in the ninth inning, Cody Ross hit a solo homer and the Red Sox won their second straight, beating the Blue Jays.

After stranding runners at third base three times in the previous five innings, the Red Sox finally broke through in the ninth. Jarrod Saltalamacchia led off with a double against Steve Delabar (4-2), Ryan Lavarnway struck out and Saltalamacchia moved to third on Mike Aviles' flyball. Ciriaco followed with a double to left.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Ernesto Frieri needed just four pitches to ruin a spectacular start by Zack Greinke, giving up two home runs in the ninth inning as the Kansas City Royals rallied to hand the playoff-contending Los Angeles Angels a stunning 3-2 loss on Saturday night.

Frieri (3-1) replaced Greinke with one out in the ninth after Alex Gordon singled. Billy Butler homered to center on Frieri's first pitch to tie the score. Three pitches later, Salvador Perez homered off the left-field pole for his first career walkoff homer.

The Angels entered the day 2 1/2 games back of Baltimore and New York for the second wild-card spot in the AL

Greinke gave up just five singles, walked two and struck out three in 8 1/3 innings. He has allowed seven runs and 24 hits in 37 innings for a 1.70 ERA in his past five starts.