Dunn, who had two hits and walked twice, sin

OAKLAND, Calif. -- Two of the American Leagues top teams have struggling closers who are accustomed to being among the best in baseball. Joe Nathan held on through another rocky ninth inning for his 13th save a day after blowing one, and the Detroit Tigers beat the Oakland Athletics 5-4 on Thursday for a split of the four-game series between division leaders. "If Joes on youre going to have quick outs. Hes been one of the best closers, he had an unbelievable year last year," Tigers manager Brad Ausmus said. "If hes on, hell get quick outs. It just wasnt today." On the other side, Oaklands Jim Johnson -- the 2013 AL saves leader -- walked off the mound to boos from the home crowd after allowing two runs in the seventh. He is pitching in lower-pressure situations for now. "What am I supposed to do?" he said of the crowd treatment. "I dont know what to tell you. Balls are finding holes. Im throwing pretty good pitches, I just feel like Im in a little bit of bad luck. I dont think its as bad as it really seems. I think everybody else thinks that way." Miguel Cabrera hit a go-ahead sacrifice fly in the fifth to back Rick Porcellos eighth victory. Porcello (8-2) overcame a career-high six walks, three shy of his season total coming into Thursdays start. Nathan allowed Josh Donaldsons leadoff double, an RBI infield single by Yoenis Cespedes and Josh Reddicks run-scoring double before pinch-hitter Jed Lowrie grounded out to end the game. It was Nathans first outing since he surrendered Donaldsons game-ending three-run homer in Wednesdays 3-1 loss for his fourth blown save opportunity. "You guys can get the guys that did their part. You can write whatever you want," Nathan said. Victor Martinez doubled home two runs in the seventh and Cabrera also had an RBI groundout for the Tigers, who head to Seattle for the weekend before returning home. Nick Punto hit a two-run homer in the fourth for Oakland, which wasted chances all game to lose for only the seventh time in 20 games. Porcello moved into second place in the American League for wins behind Torontos Mark Buehrle. He did just enough this time, coming off his second loss of the year Saturday against Texas in which he was tagged for eight runs and 12 hits in 5 1-3 innings. "Its no secret I was all over the place," Porcello said. "I was fortunate to get out of some of the innings." Porcello improved to 5-1 on the road. He allowed five hits and two runs with four strikeouts in 5 2-3 innings. Oakland starter Jesse Chavez (4-3) lost consecutive starts for the first time this season following a two-game winning streak. His pitch count went up in a hurry. The right-hander walked two of his first three batters but escaped a rough first inning unscathed. After Ian Kinsler lined out to start the game, Chavez walked the next two and received a mound visit from pitching coach Curt Young after going to 2-0 on cleanup hitter Victor Martinez. Martinez then singled and J.D. Martinez grounded into an inning-ending double play. The As left the bases loaded in the second and sixth innings, and also squandered scoring chances in the first, fifth and seventh. They had the tying run on second and go-ahead run on first to end the game, leaving 14 on base in all. "We had plenty of opportunities," manager Bob Melvin said. "We had some situational at-bats where we didnt come through." AL Central-leading Detroit, which eliminated the two-time defending AL West champion As in a five-game division series each of the past two Octobers, won for just the third time in 11 games following a six-game winning streak. NOTES: Tigers OF Rajai Davis was held out of the lineup with lingering soreness in his left shoulder that he hurt while diving for a fly ball during the second inning Wednesday night. ... Ausmus decided to give 38-year-old Torii Hunter an unscheduled day off. "Weve got to give him a day off because hes an old man," Ausmus joked. "We need him for the long haul." ... As setup man Ryan Cook, on the DL since May 9 with a forearm strain, threw a bullpen session and could begin a rehab assignment within the next week. ... Tigers OF Andy Dirks has been throwing long toss from 120 feet as he continues to recover from lower back surgery. ... Oakland LHP Drew Pomeranz (4-2), who pitches the series opener against the Angels on Friday, has won three of his four starts since being moved into the rotation. ... Tigers ace Justin Verlander (5-4) takes the mound at Seattle on Friday trying to snap a two-start losing streak. Cheap Patriots Jerseys . The R&A announced Monday that golfs oldest championship will return to Royal Portrush in Northern Ireland for the first time since Max Faulkner won in 1951. Cheap New England Patriots Jerseys . On Wednesday night, they showed that stellar defence and a little small ball can get the job done too. With pinch-runner Kevin Pillar aboard after Dioner Navarro opened the bottom of the ninth with a single, Anthony Gose dropped down an excellent bunt along the first-base line. http://www.cheappatriotsjerseyselite.com/ .ca has you covered for whos in, whos out and what to expect from all 30 teams. Wholesale Patriots Jerseys .com) - The University of Montana named Bob Stitt as its new head football coach on Tuesday.CHICAGO -- This time, Chris Sale had to rely on Chicagos lineup to get the win. Conor Gillaspie had a career-high four RBIs, leading Sale and the White Sox to a 9-6 victory over the Cleveland Indians on Friday. Sale (3-0) pitched five innings in his first win against Cleveland since May 1, 2012. The All-Star left-hander allowed three runs and six hits while throwing 105 pitches. Sale went 11-14 last year despite a 3.07 ERA. He also had four complete games, tying Tampa Bay star David Price for the AL lead. But he got a boost from his offence in his third start of this season. Leadoff hitter Adam Eaton had two hits and scored three times as the White Sox picked up their ace on a sluggish night. Chicago has scored 37 runs in its five home games this year. "I think if we keep doing what weve been doing and making strides in the right direction we can be a force, be a great team," Sale said. "Its fun to watch, I got to watch a lot of it tonight unfortunately." The White Sox have captured the first two games of their first series of the year against the Indians, who had a 17-2 record against Chicago last season. They play again on Saturday and Sunday. Indians starter Carlos Carrasco (0-2) was tagged for five runs and six hits in 4 2-3 innings. It was another shaky start for the right-hander, who allowed five runs in 5 2-3 innings of a 7-3 loss to Minnesota in his season debut. Cleveland pitching issued nine walks, including walking in two runs. Gillaspie hit a sacrifice fly in Chicagos two-run third inning, helping the White Sox build a 3-0 lead. Adam Dunn, who had two hits and walked twice, singled and scored on Alejandro De Azas base hit in the fourth. Sale, who went 0-4 with an 8.61 ERA in four starts against Cleveland in 2013, was unable to protect the lead. Asdrubal Cabrera had a two-run double in the fifth, and then scored the tying run on Nick Swishers single. But Clevelands pitching struggled throughout the game. "When you score and tie it up, yyou gotta go back out and take charge of the game," Indians manager Terry Francona said.dddddddddddd "They just kept scoring every inning." The White Sox averaged 3.19 runs a game in Sales starts last season. "These guys are always tough on him," White Sox manager Robin Ventura said. "They were tough on him last (year) and for whatever reason they can foul off a lot of pitches. They probably see something off of him. I dont know what it is. You dont see that many teams foul that much off. He got up there with a high pitch count." The White Sox grabbed the lead for good in the fifth. Gillaspie singled in Eaton, and Carrasco was lifted for Marc Rzepczynski after striking out Jose Abreu for the second out of the inning. Rzepczynski walked Dunn to load the bases and then walked in a run as Dayan Viciedo came back from an 0-2 count to give the White Sox a 5-3 lead. "I thought Carlos in the fifth kind of slowed down his tempo, you could tell he was fighting some of his mechanics," Francona said. "Thats when we went to Zep and tried to snuff that out. Nothing, we couldnt put up a zero the rest of the way." Gillaspie committed an error in the sixth, allowing Michael Brantley to score, but he responded with a two-out, two-run double in the bottom half, making it 7-4. Alexei Ramirez added an RBI single for Chicago in the seventh. NOTES: OF Michael Bourn went 1 for 5 with a stolen base in his second rehab start for Double-A Akron. Francona said Bourn, who has yet to play this season with a left hamstring strain, would be examined after the game and though Bourn would prefer to return to the big leagues Sunday, Francona said the team may hold off due to the wet conditions expected that day. ... Indians DH Jason Giambi (broken rib) made his first rehab start for Akron. He was 0 for 2 with two strikeouts. ... The White Sox acquired OF Gorkys Hernandez from Kansas City for cash considerations and assigned him to Triple-A Charlotte. 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