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2B Daily News – Thursday, September 20, 2012 TIGERS 6, A'S 2 Anderson hurt in Oakland's loss DETROIT (AP) — Oak- land hopes it only lost a game in the Motor City. Brett Anderson pitched just two-plus innings before leaving with a strained right oblique and the Detroit Tigers went on to beat the Athletics 6-2 on Wednesday night. ''He's getting an MRI right now,'' A's manager Bob Melvin said. ''So, we won't know anything until he gets back.'' After walking Miguel Cabrera intentionally and giving Prince Fielder a free pass on four pitches to load the bases, Anderson was injured while pitching to Delmon Young. Anderson fell forward and landed awkwardly after throwing his 48th pitch. Oakland trainer Nick Paparesta and Melvin talked with Ander- son briefly on the field before deciding to take him out of the game. ''We could see earlier in the inning that he was trying to stretch out his back, so I don't think the fall had any- thing to do with it,'' Melvin said. ''We just checked him at that point and decided we didn't want to go any farther with him.'' Melvin plans to pitch Dan Strally in Anderson's spot in the rotation if he can't make his next start. Oakland, clinging to an AL wild-card spot, has dropped three straight. ''You are never going to just speed through a pen- nant race and win every- thing,'' Melvin said. Anderson (4-2) gave up three runs and three hits, losing his second straight start after winning his first four this season. Infante drove in three runs and Justin Verlander pitched six scoreless innings for the Tigers. 49ERS Crabtree's challenge motivates offense — It was a natural moment for Michael Crabtree to address his 49ers team- mates — on his 25th birth- day last Friday. When asked to say a few SANTA CLARA (AP) words on the field after practice, Crabtree kindly obliged. And he surprised a few of his San Francisco colleagues with a spot-on message: The defense has been doing so much to carry San Francisco, he called for the offense to match that performance. ''He broke it down with some pretty powerful words for us on offense,'' left tack- le Joe Staley said. ''He said: 'We have this defense and we can't depend on this defense anymore. It's time to step up as an offense.' And I think everybody kind of took that to heart.'' Coach Jim Harbaugh presented the wide receiver with a celebratory red velvet cupcake and hand-written card, a regular gesture for players' birthdays. Two days later, Crabtree did his part to make good on his challenge to the team — delivering three third-down conversion catches in a 27- 19 win by the 49ers (2-0) over the Lions. His teammates certainly appreciated the thoughtful words Friday as much as they did the big plays Sun- day. ''The defense gets a lot of credit, deservedly so,'' quarterback Alex Smith said. ''Especially last sea- son, they played at a really high level. (He) talked a lot about offense. If you can get offense, defense and special teams all rolling, you know how scary it can be. Michael is the guy who has been there, worked extremely hard. He contin- ues to work extremely hard, and our guys look to him.'' Crabtree is healthy at last, and showing his ability to make athletic possession receptions under pressure and extend plays after the catch. Detroit's aggressive, physical defense was just his style, if you ask Har- baugh. ''I think he secretly hopes it comes down to that,'' Harbaugh said. ''I think he likes that physical part of the game because he thrives on it so well. And he's a tough, tough guy that will suck it up in a heart- beat.'' top guys in the league,'' running back Frank Gore said of Crabtree. ''He can do everything — catch, be physical, tough, yards after the catch, he blocks. This doesn't surprise me at all what Michael Crabtree's doing.'' sional. He might not have had the success he wanted early, but it wasn't because of that.'' Crabtree's early 17-yard catch on the left sideline set up a 21-yard touchdown pass to Vernon Davis that put the 49ers on the score- board 2 minutes, 35 seconds into the game. ''A lot of things can be momentum changers in the game. That was one,'' Crab- tree said. ''I get hyped every weekend about foot- ball. This is my job. I don't see big play. I just see catch the ball, every play. I wish I could tell you something special.'' Crabtree has avoided the spotlight as best he can since arriving in the NFL with huge expectations, albeit after a 71-day con- tract stalemate his rookie season before he finally signed his contract that October. By Oct. 25 at Houston, he had cracked the starting lineup. Often in shades and scurrying through the locker room to get to meetings or practice, Crabtree is always focused on work. With a few jokes for his teammates now and then. ''He's not a talkative person,'' Gore said, ''but I know when he gets in front and says something that he means it.'' He has led the team in receptions in both wins so far, with the 49ers headed to Minnesota to meet the Vikings on Sunday. Against the Lions, Crabtree convert- ed on third down with receptions of 7, 16 and 11 yards — all in the fourth quarter. Now, the Niners' No. 10 overall pick in the 2009 draft out of Texas Tech has 13 catches through two games for 143 yards. Crabtree and fellow wideout Randy Moss are complementing each other as well as anybody could ask for — and pulling some defenders away from Davis. ''As long as he's healthy, I feel that he's one of the Crabtree, who has long had the reputation of being a diva, was angrily con- fronted by Davis during an early September practice two years ago and then- coach Mike Singletary had to step between them. There have been no such known issues since, and Davis has supported him. Crabtree had 72 recep- tions for 874 yards and four touchdowns in 2011, helping the 49ers return to the playoffs for the first time in nine years. While he did miss a week of training camp this summer, he was on the field more than he had been in any previous pre- season because of injuries. ''Alex had a lot of criti- cism, too, but he never paid any attention to that stuff. I know Crabtree is the same way,'' said. ''And I don't think the criticism that he was getting was fair. I think it was all perception. They called him a 'diva' and all that stuff. That's never anything that people who have been around him have ever thought. He's always been a guy that's been very, very profes- Staley Moss has taken notice. A player who has long been dogged by his reputation MLB West Division Texas A's East Division New York Baltimore American League WL Pct GB 87 60 .592 — 84 64 .568 3.5 Los Angeles 81 67 .547 6.5 Seattle 70 79 .470 18 WL Pct GB 85 63 .574 — 84 64 .568 1 Tampa Bay 79 70 .530 6.5 Boston Toronto Central Division Chicago Detroit WL Pct GB 81 67 .547 — 79 69 .534 2 Kansas City 67 81 .453 14 Minnesota 62 87 .416 19.5 Cleveland 61 88 .409 20.5 —————————————————— Wednesday's results N.Y.Yankees 4, Toronto 2, 1st game Minnesota 6, Cleveland 4 Detroit 6, Oakland 2 N.Y.Yankees 2, Toronto 1, 2nd game Tampa Bay 13, Boston 3 Kansas City 3, Chicago White Sox 0 Texas at L.A. Angels, late Baltimore at Seattle, late Today's Games Minnesota (Vasquez 0-2) at Cleveland (Kluber 1-4), 9:05 a.m. Oakland (Milone 13-10) at Detroit (A.Sanchez 3-5), 10:05 a.m. Toronto (Laffey 3-5) at N.Y.Yankees (P.Hughes 15-12), 4:05 p.m. Boston (Buchholz 11-6) at Tampa Bay (Price 18-5), 4:10 p.m. Chicago White Sox (Liriano 6-11) at Kansas City (Guthrie 4-3), 5:10 p.m. Texas (Darvish 15-9) at L.A. Angels (Greinke 5-2), 7:05 p.m. Friday's Games Minnesota at Detroit, 4:05 p.m. Oakland at N.Y.Yankees, 4:05 p.m. Baltimore at Boston, 4:10 p.m. Toronto at Tampa Bay, 4:10 p.m. Cleveland at Kansas City, 5:10 p.m. Chicago White Sox at L.A. Angels, 7:05 p.m. Texas at Seattle, 7:10 p.m. 68 82 .453 18 66 81 .449 18.5 during various NFL stops, he can relate some to his younger teammate. Moss has set an example for Crabtree, and they con- stantly push each other in practice. ''Crabtree's been through a lot,'' Moss said. ''For him to be able to stand up and bring us together and say, 'the offense needs to match the defense,' we really felt it. And then to come out here and make plays, that's something you can really hang your hat on and follow a guy like that.'' MLB West Division GIANTS National League WL Pct GB Los Angeles 77 72 .517 8.5 Arizona San Diego 71 77 .480 14 Colorado East Division Washington 90 58 .608 — Atlanta Central Division Philadelphia 75 74 .503 15.5 New York Miami Cincinnati 89 59 .601 — St. Louis 66 84 .440 25 WL Pct GB 79 70 .530 10.5 Milwaukee 76 72 .514 13 Pittsburgh 74 74 .500 15 Chicago Houston 58 90 .392 31 48 101 .322 41.5 —————————————————— Wednesday's results Washington 3, L.A. Dodgers 1, 1st game Milwaukee at Pittsburgh, 7:05 p.m. Atlanta 3, Miami 0 Philadelphia at N.Y. Mets, 7:10 p.m. L.A. Dodgers at Washington, 7:35 p.m., 2nd game Cincinnati at Chicago Cubs, 8:05 p.m. Houston at St. Louis, 8:15 p.m. San Diego at Arizona, 9:40 p.m. Colorado at San Francisco, 10:15 p.m. Today's Games Houston (B.Norris 5-12) at St. Louis (J.Garcia 4-7), 10:45 a.m. Cincinnati (Cueto 17-9) at Chicago Cubs (Berken 0-1), 11:20 a.m. San Diego (Richard 13-12) at Arizona (Skaggs 1-2), 12:40 p.m. Colorado (J.De La Rosa 0-0) at San Francisco (Zito 12-8), 12:45 p.m. Milwaukee (Fiers 9-8) at Pittsburgh (W.Rodriguez 11-13), 1:05 p.m. L.A. Dodgers (Capuano 11-10) at Wash- ington (Detwiler 9-6), 4:05 p.m. Philadelphia (Cloyd 1-1) at N.Y. Mets (Hefner 2-6), 4:10 p.m. Friday's games St. Louis at Chicago Cubs, 11:20 a.m. Atlanta at Philadelphia, 4:05 p.m. Milwaukee at Washington, 4:05 p.m. L.A. Dodgers at Cincinnati, 4:10 p.m. Miami at N.Y. Mets, 4:10 p.m. Pittsburgh at Houston, 5:05 p.m. Arizona at Colorado, 5:10 p.m. San Diego at San Francisco, 7:15 p.m. 85 63 .574 — 73 74 .497 11.5 58 89 .395 26.5 WL Pct GB 86 64 .573 5 66 82 .446 24 West WL T Pct PF PA Chargers 2 0 0 1.000 60 24 Denver 1 1 0 .500 52 46 Kansas City 0 2 0 .000 41 75 RAIDERS 02 0 .000 27 57 East WL T Pct PF PA N.Y. Jets 1 1 0 .500 58 55 N. England 1 1 0 .500 52 33 Miami 1 1 0 .500 45 43 Buffalo 1 1 0 .500 63 65 South WL T Pct PF PA Houston 2 0 0 1.000 57 17 Indianapolis 1 1 0 .500 44 61 Tennessee 0 2 0 .000 23 72 Jacksonville 0 2 0 .000 30 53 North WL T Pct PF PA Baltimore 1 1 0 .500 67 37 Cincinnati 1 1 0 .500 47 71 Pittsburgh 1 1 0 .500 46 41 Cleveland 0 2 0 .000 43 51 NFC West WL T Pct PF PA Arizona 2 0 0 1.000 40 34 49ERS 20 0 1.000 57 41 St. Louis 1 1 0 .500 54 55 Seattle 1 1 0 .500 43 27 East Philadelphia 2 0 0 1.000 41 39 Dallas WL T Pct PF PA 1 1 0 .500 31 44 Washington 1 1 0 .500 68 63 N.Y. Giants 1 1 0 .500 58 58 South WL T Pct PF PA Atlanta 2 0 0 1.000 67 45 Tampa Bay 1 1 0 .500 50 51 Carolina 1 1 0 .500 45 43 N. Orleans 0 2 0 .000 59 75 North Green Bay 1 1 0 .500 45 40 Detroit WL T Pct PF PA 1 1 0 .500 46 50 Minnesota 1 1 0 .500 46 46 Chicago 1 1 0 .500 51 44 —————————————————— Week 2 results Thursday's result Green Bay 23, Chicago 10 Sunday's results San Francisco 27, Detroit 19 Arizona 20, New England 18 Buffalo 35, Kansas City 17 Carolina 35, New Orleans 27 Cincinnati 34, Cleveland 27 Houston 27, Jacksonville 7 Indianapolis 23, Minnesota 20 Miami 35, Oakland 13 N.Y. Giants 41, Tampa Bay 34 Philadelphia 24, Baltimore 23 Pittsburgh 27, N.Y. Jets 10 San Diego 38, Tennessee 10 Seattle 27, Dallas 7 St. Louis 31, Washington 28 Monday's result Atlanta 27, Denver 21 Week 3 Schedule Thursday's game N.Y. Giants at Carolina, 5:20 p.m. Sunday's games San Francisco at Minnesota, 10 a.m. Pittsburgh at Oakland, 1:25 p.m. Buffalo at Cleveland, 10 a.m. Cincinnati at Washington, 10 a.m. Detroit at Tennessee, 10 a.m. Jacksonville at Indianapolis, 10 a.m. Kansas City at New Orleans, 10 a.m. N.Y. Jets at Miami, 10 a.m. St. Louis at Chicago, 10 a.m. Tampa Bay at Dallas, 10 a.m. Atlanta at San Diego, 1:05 p.m. Philadelphia at Arizona, 1:05 p.m. Houston at Denver, 1:25 p.m. New England at Baltimore, 5:20 p.m. Monday's game Green Bay at Seattle, 5:30 p.m. Cabrera homered, Omar MCT photo Detroit Avisail Garcia (34) is out at first base as Oakland's first baseman Daric Barton stretches to make a catch Wednesday. Verlander (15-8) allowed five hits and three walks while striking out five in a 122-pitch outing. ''You know that he's out there trying to go all nine, and your only chance to get his pitch count up,'' infield- er Brandon Moss said. ''The problem is that he's still one of the best pitchers in baseball, so even if you get runners on base, you have to find a way to get them in.'' The Tigers have won two straight over the A's — and 28 of their last 36 games at home — to pull within two games of AL Central-leading Chicago White Sox. ''We played a couple good games against one of the hottest teams in all of baseball,'' Detroit manager Jim Leyland said. ''That's pretty good.'' Detroit's Octavio Dotel struck out two in a perfect seventh. Joaquin Benoit had two strikeouts in the eighth. Jose Valverde closed the game in a non- save situation, entering with a six-run lead, and was booed after giving up two- out RBI singles to Cliff Pennington and Stephen Drew. The Tigers played some small ball to take a 3-0 lead in the third. Andy Dirks and Gerald Laird started the inning with bunt singles and advanced on Austin Jackson's groundout. Infante followed with a double down the left- field line to put Detroit up 2- 0. Right-hander Pat Neshek replaced Anderson and Young promptly hit a sacri- fice fly to give the Tigers a 3-0 lead. Detroit shortstop Jhonny Peralta had an error in the fifth — snapping a 75-game errorless streak — but he helped turn a double play to end the inning. He chipped in at the plate in the home half, hitting an RBI single to put Detroit ahead 4-0. NFL AFC