DETROIT — Ian Kinsler drove in four runs, Jose Iglesias chipped in four hits and Anibal Sanchez pitched 6 2/3 innings of three-hit shutout ball Wednesday to lead Detroit to an 11-0 victory over Minnesota, the Tigers’ second straight shutout win over the Twins.
The right-handed Sanchez issued both his walks on 3-2 pitches with one out in the seventh and was relieved by rookie right-hander Angel Nesbitt after striking out left fielder Oswaldo Arcia for the second out of the inning.
Nesbitt, making his major league debut, induced a groundout to short by catcher Kurt Suzuki to end the inning. Lefty Ian Krol pitched the eighth, right-hander Al Alburquerque got two outs in the ninth and right-hander Joakim Soria was brought in to finish the game off.
Starting right-hander Ricky Nolasco, a bust last season after signing a big contract with Minnesota as a free agent, walked four and gave up six runs and six hits in a three-inning stint in his first start of the season.
Shortstop Iglesias scored three runs during his first career four-hit game and now has six hits in two games after getting just five all spring.
Second baseman Kinsler’s two-run single broke a scoreless tie and first baseman Miguel Cabrera followed with an RBI double down the third base line to make it 3-0. Cabrera added an RBI single in the fifth following Kinsler’s sacrifice fly to left to boost the Tigers’ lead to 9-0.
Center fielder Anthony Gose’s two-run triple to right center, which skipped by right fielder Torii Hunter’s glove, boosted Detroit’s lead to 5-0 in the fourth and he scored on Kinsler’s line single to left center.
Kinsler ended up on third when center fielder Jordan Schafer of Minnesota muffed the ball for a two-base error and the Detroit second baseman scored on a two-out wild pitch by right-hander reliever Tim Stauffer, which completed the four-run frame.
A double by Iglesias put catcher Alex Avila, who had drawn the first of three straight walks, on third and set up a three-run third.
Rookie catcher James McCann, who got his first major league hit last September, collected his first big-league RBI with a two-out single up the middle in the eighth to score Detroit’s 10th run. Right fielder J.D. Martinez had doubled leading off.
NOTES: Detroit RHP Justin Verlander was placed on the 15-day disabled list, retroactive to March 29, for the first time in his career. The Tigers expect Verlander to miss just one start. … LHP Kyle Lobstein was recalled from Triple-A Toledo to start in Verlander’s place Sunday in Cleveland. … Minnesota RF Torii Hunter may get fined for objecting too strongly to home plate umpire Joe West’s call of a checked-swing third strike Monday in the Twins’ 4-0 loss at Detroit, but he isn’t worried about it. “I said my piece and walked away,” Hunter said. “I know what I’m doing.” … CF Anthony Gose got his first start with Detroit on Wednesday and will be used in a rough platoon with CF Rajai Davis. “They both understand their roles,” manager Brad Ausmus said. He noted Gose, who hits left-handed, will face some southpaws while the right-handed hitting Davis will play against some right-handers.