News » look to Saturday and if Stamkos is

CLEVELAND -- After 475 pitches, 20 runs and more than five hours of baseball, the Cleveland Indians and Detroit Tigers settled this lengthy game in a most bizarre fashion: a walkoff balk. Al Alburquerques bases-loaded balk in the 13th inning Wednesday gave the Indians an 11-10 victory over Detroit. "I dont even know where to start with that game," Indians right-fielder David Murphy said. "I dont know if that was a baseball game or a marathon combined with a circus." Murphy tied the game that took 5 hours, 16 minutes in the ninth with a two-run homer off Joe Nathan Alex Avilas two-out homer in the top of the 13th put Detroit ahead, but the Indians scored twice for their second walkoff win in the three-game sweep. Mike Aviles led off with a single against Phil Coke (0-1) and took second on Michael Bourns sacrifice. After Asdrubal Cabrera was hit by a pitch, Michael Brantley lined a single to left for his fourth hit that scored Aviles, who slid home before Rajai Davis throw. After a groundout, Alburquerque relieved and pinch-hitter Yan Gomes was walked intentionally to load the bases. Ryan Raburn took the first pitch for a ball. As Alburquerque went into his set position, he appeared to move his leg and glove and then stopped. Indians manager Terry Francona couldnt remember a game ending on a balk, but he knew Alburquerque committed one. "It was definitely a balk," he said. "If they hadnt have called it we would have went out there and argued." The Tigers put up no argument. "He just went to come set and he stopped and it was pretty blatant," Avila said. "There wasnt any controversy about that one." According to STATS, the game-ending balk is the first since July 4, 2011, when the Royals Aaron Crow committed one in the ninth inning against the White Sox. Its also the first walkoff balk in extra innings since June 16, 2011, when the Mets D.J. Carrasco did it against the Braves. Josh Tomlin (3-1), the Indians ninth pitcher, worked the final three innings. Tigers slugger Miguel Cabrera and manager Brad Ausmus were ejected in the sixth inning by plate umpire Tim Timmons for arguing balls and strikes. Raburn raised his arms in victory after the balk was called and the Indians rushed from the dugout to mob Cabrera at the plate. Cabrera had been hit on the knee by Cokes pitcher and spent several moments on the ground before going to first. The Indians bid to win in the 10th ended when Davis throw to the plate got Lonnie Chisenhall, who was trying to score on Bourns flyball. Zach McAllister allowed four runs in the first and didnt retire a batter in the third. Having already used seven relievers, Francona had no choice but to call on Tomlin in the 11th even though the right-hander was scheduled to start Thursday in Baltimore. Asked how long Tomlin would have pitched, Francona said, "Till we won or lost. There was nobody else." "I dont know if Ive ever done that before, but I was ready," Tomlin. "They asked me about the 10th inning if I could pitch, so I ran and got my spikes." A roster move to add Thursdays starter will be made before that game. Max Scherzer allowed seven runs in seven innings. He gave up one run in the first, five in the second and another in the third, but blanked the Indians over his final four innings of work. The right-hander gave up 12 hits and threw 113 pitches. Scherzer, last seasons AL Cy Young winner, had allowed six total runs in his previous six starts, all wins, over 39 innings. A dropped throw by Cabrera helped Detroit break a 7-all tie in the eighth. J.D. Martinez, who hit a two-run homer in the first, had three RBIs. Victor Martinez was 3 for 6 with two RBIs, including a solo homer in the third. Chisenhall hit a solo homer for Cleveland. McAllister allowed five runs in two innings. NOTES: Tigers OF Torii Hunter had the day off. ... Indians DH Jason Giambi played for the first time since May 3 when he strained his right calf. He came off the 15-day disabled list Tuesday. ... Victor Martinez is 8 for 13 with seven RBIs lifetime against McAllister. ... Bench coach Gene Lamont ran the team after Ausmus was ejected. ... McAllister is 0-4 with a 9.51 ERA in his last six starts. Mike Wallace Eagles Jersey . The 23-year-old Woods, Tiger Woods niece, closed with a 4-under 69 at Royal Pines to finish at 16-under 276. Lee also shot 69 in the event sanctioned by the European and Australian tours. Woods birdied the par-5 15th to open a two-stroke lead, hitting a wedge from about 120 yards to 4 feet. 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He was selected in the second round, 47th overall, of the 2007 draft.TSN Hockey Insiders Bob McKenzie, Darren Dreger, and Pierre LeBrun have the latest on available players on the New York Islanders and Buffalo Sabres, if moving Dave Bolland is a possibility for the Toronto Maple Leafs, and Steven Stamkos Olympics situation. From the moment Thomas Vanek turned down a reported $50 million contract offer from the New York Islanders, the thought was he has to be moved. Is a deal imminent? Pierre LeBrun: Its not imminent but it could happen before the end of the week, of course we have an Olympic trade freeze Friday at 3pm et. In a perfect world the Islanders would look to divest themselves of that big salary of Vaneks so they dont carry it through the Olympics. But that same big cap number is why some of the contenders – and we know that Los Angeles and Pittsburgh have some interest in Vanek – cant deal yet as they are right at the cap. So it makes this deal difficult before the Olympic freeze. To get Vanek, the asking price is three assets: any combination of a first-round pick, a young player, and a prospect. Whatever the combination, Islanders GM Garth Snow is trying to get his big haul here because we know how much he gave up to get Vanek at the start of the season. Bob McKenzie: The Islanders also have another asset in play in defenceman Andrew MacDonald. Heres a guy that is going to unrestricted free agency at the end of the season, hes only making $550,000 right now, but he leads the NHL in blocked shots. And for the last two seasons hes been the minutes leader for the Islanders. There has been a lot of interest in this player. The Islanders could do a deal with him, maybe between $4 million and $5 million a year, which would be a huge increase on what hes currently making, but the Islanders have lots of young defencemen coming and lots of teams are calling. MacDonalds name is definitely in play. And is one of Thomas Vaneks ex-teammates also drawing interest? McKenzie: That would be Steve Ott of the Buffalo Sabres. We all know that Matt Moulson has been drawing interest, with upwards of a double digit number of teams inquiring about Moulsons availability by the deadline. But Ott is attracting that much, if not more attention than Moulson. Obviously keep an eye on the Sabres, theyre at the bottom of the league and ready to offload people. In addition to Ott and Moulson there is the Ryan Miller scennario playing out but also Henrik Tallinder is another guy who could be moved as well as Drew Stafford and Cody McCormick.dddddddddddd Dave Bolland hasnt played since November 2. Is he still in play? Darren Dreger: Hes an unrestricted free agent at the end of the year, so Dave Nonis and the Toronto Maple Leafs are going to have to figure out what option they want to pursue with Bolland. There are three of them: No. 1 is theyll negotiate relatively soon and find out what his number would be to avoid free agency. No. 2 is if they dont like the number at this stage in the season, they wait and use him as their own rental to push for the playoffs. No. 3, which isnt anywhere near as likely as No.1 but is certainly an option, is to trade Bolland if you know that a deal isnt likely to be made. By all accounts, everything is going to plan for Steven Stamkos. His plan is to play Saturday and then make a decision with Team Canada at that point. What is Team Canada doing to manage the situation if Stamkos cant go? Dreger: First of all, there are a couple hurdles Canada has to get by. No. 1: they want to find out what Wednesdays test results are medically speaking on Stamkos. Either way, expect Team Canada GM Steve Yzerman to reach out to at least a couple, as many as four or five, of the replacement players – Claude Giroux, James Neal, Eric Staal, Martin St. Louis – to put them on standby. Then you look to Saturday and if Stamkos is able to play against the Detroit Red Wings, then thats a great sign. Obviously theyll monitor how he feels post-game, then theyll make the decision as to whether he or somebody else gets on the Sunday charter flight. LeBrun: And theres a Stamkos-like situation playing out in Minnesota, obviously not getting as much attention. Mikko Koivu, the best player on the Finnish Olympic team, may not be able to play. This thing is going down to the wire. We know one thing, hes not going to play for the Wild this week. He hasnt played in a month after ankle surgery. Hes still recovering and skated on Tuesday, having felt better than he has in a couple days. But at the end of the day, be it Friday or Saturday, Koivu has to get together with Minnesota team doctors and the Finnish Olympic team to make a call on whether or not hes fit to play in the Olympics. That would be a gigantic loss for Finland. ' ' '