DETROIT - The Detroit Tigers looked dormant with the bats until a pitch from Chicagos Chris Sale hit Victor Martinez around the back of his left shoulder.Then tempers flared, the benches and bullpens emptied a€” and Sales shutout didnt last much longer.Martinez came around to score the tying run in the sixth inning, and after Sale came out of the game, Chicagos bullpen was no match for the Tigers. Detroit won 6-1 on Wednesday a€” and clinched a spot in the post-season when Seattle lost to Toronto.The worst the Tigers can end up with now is a wild card. Detroit is trying for its fourth straight AL Central crown, and the Tigers took a two-game lead over second-place Kansas City, which lost at Cleveland. Detroits magic number to clinch the division is three.With one out in the sixth and Chicago up 1-0, Sales first pitch to Martinez hit the Detroit slugger. Martinez walked slowly to first, and the two started jawing at each other. Sale appeared to point out toward centre field in agitated fashion as Martinez went to first.They were claiming that someone with binoculars in centre field was giving signs to Victor, Tigers manager Brad Ausmus said. I think its a little weak that they would hit him. If they injure Victor there and were in the playoff hunt, thats bad news. That just cant happen.He clearly did it on purpose. He made it obvious.Sale didnt accuse the Tigers of stealing signs afterward, and he said he wasnt specifically gesturing toward centre field.I was just throwing my arms up, like you do when you are upset, the left-hander said. I wasnt really trying to control where they pointed.Sale appeared to tip his hat toward the outfield in the third inning after striking out Martinez.There was a fan that was just wearing me out in the bullpen before the game, telling me that I wasnt any good, and telling me how much Victor was going to hit me, Sale said. So that was just having some fun with him.Justin Verlander (15-12) allowed a run in eight innings for Detroit.Sale allowed a run and four hits in six innings. He struck out 10 and walked three, becoming his franchises career leader with his 18th game of at least 10 strikeouts. Ed Walsh had 17.But Chicagos slim lead slipped away after he hit Martinez.I think he just woke the whole team up, said Martinez, who is 15 of 29 for his career off Sale.The benches and bullpens emptied, but order was quickly restored. J.D. Martinez followed with a double and Nick Castellanos hit a sacrifice fly to tie it at 1.Ian Kinslers RBI double the following inning off Javy Guerra (2-4) put Detroit ahead, and when Kinsler reached second, he put his hands up in front of his eyes, pantomiming someone looking through binoculars.Miguel Cabrera added a sacrifice fly in the seventh. Detroit scored three runs in the eighth on a well-executed squeeze play by Andrew Romine and RBI singles by Rajai Davis and Kinsler.Cabrera struck out four times, only the third time in his career thats happened and the first time since Sept. 17, 2010.QUALITY STARTThe brouhaha involving Sale and Martinez overshadowed another fine outing by Verlander, who allowed seven hits and struck out six.Verlander (15-12) has not been at his best this year, but the former Cy Young Award winner has made it to the eighth inning in back-to-back starts.I think I was getting ahead of guys a€” good fastball control, good life on the fastball, Verlander said.AMONG THE LEADERSThis was Sales last start of the season, and he finishes with a 2.17 ERA, which will almost surely be good enough to win the American League ERA title. Seattles Felix Hernandez is at 2.34.TRAINERS ROOMWhite Sox: After the bench-clearing incident, Sale pitched the rest of the sixth before being pulled after 101 pitches. Manager Robin Ventura was already trying to ease the left-hander into the off-season. Sale finishes the year at 174 innings after missing a month early on with a muscle strain near his left elbow.Tigers: Detroit RHP Anibal Sanchez (pectoral strain) still has not pitched since being activated from the disabled list before Tuesdays game. Hes now part of the Tigers bullpen but was not used Wednesday.UP NEXTWhite Sox: After losing two of three to the Tigers, Chicago has another chance to play spoiler in a four-game series against the Royals. White Sox LHP Jose Quintana (9-10) faces Kansas City RHP James Shields (14-8) on Thursday night.Tigers: Detroit hosts four games against Minnesota. Tigers RHP Max Scherzer (17-5) takes the mound against Twins RHP Trevor May (3-5) on Thursday night. 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While this game or series isnt necessarily a referendum on the value of fourth lines, the Canadiens certainly benefitted from production lower down their forward depth chart.BOCA RATON, Fla. -- Michael Allen was prouder of the 3-under 69 he shot Saturday than his record-tying 60 the day before. A day after making the game look so easy when he was the ninth player to shoot 60 on the Champions Tour, Allen fought his swing from the opening drive at Broken Sound. He fell out of the lead after playing his first 10 holes in 1 over, but birdied four of his last eight holes to take a one-stroke lead over Scott Dunlap and Chien Soon Lu in the Allianz Championship. "This is one of those rounds I really feel good about," said Allen, who is at 15-under 129 entering the final round. " "I knew if I hung in there, eventually the birdies would start coming." Allen has a more difficult task to win for the sixth time on the 50-and-over tour. With calm, warm condition on The Old Course, the field combined for a scoring average of 69.67, the lowest in the eight-year history of the event. Allen had only one player -- Dunlap -- within four shots of his lead after the first round.dddddddddddd Now, there are seven players within four shots entering Sundays final round. "All I did was make it a good tournament," Allen said, smiling. "At least I know what I have to do now -- be aggressive from the start." Lu shot his second straight 65, and Dunlap followed his opening 63 with a 67. Neither Allen nor Dunlap won on the PGA Tour, but Dunlap is playing in just his second Champions Tour event. "I didnt use up a lot of great golf on the PGA Tour," said Dunlap, whose best showing in 204 career PGA Tour starts was a third-place finish. "It would be nice to think that door (of winning) hasnt closed." Duffy Waldorf was fourth at 13 under after a 63. He played the front nine in 7-under 29. Jay Haas, winless in 123 starts in Florida, was another stroke back along with Tom Lehman. Haas had a 64, and Lehman shot 67. NBC announcer Gary Koch was 11 under after a 66. ' ' ' Rangers. ' ' 'e to second baseman D.J. LeMahieu, who then threw to first to complete the inning ending double play. ' ' '4th. ' ' 'ting from the charity stripe. ' ' '