DETROIT (AP)-It was like an All-Star game, except without as many stars. Boston and Detroit tied an AL record by using 42 players in the Red Sox's 7-6 victory over the Tigers on Friday night.
Maybe, Jimy Williams was saving Israel Alcantara for extra innings because he was the only position player who didn't play.
In all, the Red Sox used 18 position players and six pitchers. The Tigers used 11 players in the field and sent seven to the mound.
Williams was determined to use just about every player he could to keep the Boston Red Sox in the wild card race.
Cleveland and Oakland had already won before the Red Sox-Tigers game ended after nearly four hours, but Williams insisted that he didn't notice the scores on the right-field wall in Comerica Park.
"I didn't have time," Williams said. "I was crossing out too many names. You have to take care of your own. That's all you can do because we're playing a good team over there."
Detroit manager Phil Garner shrugged when he was asked about the constant changes on the field and mound.
"It's what you can do when the rosters expand," Garner said. "You try to go with the right matchups whenever you can."
The Red Sox had the right matchup when it mattered most.
Jason Varitek and Midre Cummings both had pinch-hit RBI singles to tie the game 6-6 in the eighth. Troy O'Leary and Dante Bichette started the innings by drawing walks.
Nomar Garciaparra hit a leadoff single against Nelson Cruz (5-2) in the ninth and went to third on Troy O'Leary's single. One out later, Scott Hatteberg hit a tiebreaking singled up the middle through a drawn-in infield against Todd Jones.
"He tried to sneak a fastball past me and I was just able to get it back up the middle," said Hatteberg after seeing four-straight sliders.
Rod Beck (1-0) pitched a perfect eighth. Derek Lowe worked the ninth for his 35th save in 40 chances.
"We looked like we had never seen a breaking ball when Beck was out there," Garner said. "We scored runs and we had the ballgame, but we just gave it right back to them with those two walks (in the eighth). And on the flip side, we won't take walks."
Tim Wakefield and Steve Sparks started in a battle of knuckleballers, but neither factored in the decision.
Wakefield pitched five innings and gave up three runs _ two earned _ five hits and three walks while striking out six. Sparks gave up four Red Sox runs on six hits and four walks in 4 1-3 innings.
Juan Gonzalez gave Detroit a 5-4 lead in the seventh with a 448-foot drive. It was Gonzalez's 21st homer of the season, but it was his first at Comerica Park since June 17. He had an inside-the-park home run on Sept. 2.
Detroit, 81/2 games behind the Indians in the wild card race, is all but mathematically eliminated with 16 games remaining.
"We just want to put a kink in these guys' plans," Hal Morris said. "My feeling is, if we're not going to make the playoffs I don't want any of the teams we're playing to make it either." Notes:@ The last time two AL teams used 42 players was when Oakland and Kansas City played on Sept. 20, 1975. ... The 3-hour, 49-minute game marked the longest nine-inning game for the Tigers this season. ... Garciaparra's 48 doubles rank second in the AL. ... Deivi Cruz's 46 doubles are the most for a Tigers player since 1950. ... Wakefield and Sparks also pitched against each other on Aug. 28, 1999, but neither got a decision during that outing.