erse on England v Scotland England must put Scotland under pressure at Wembley,

DETROIT -- It was hard to tell who was happier when Joshua Phegleys sixth-inning grand slam cleared the fence -- Phegley himself, or the pitcher who would benefit from those four runs. Phegleys drive gave Chris Sale some long-awaited offensive support, and Chicago went on to beat the Detroit Tigers 6-3 on Thursday in a game that included a bench-clearing altercation shortly after the White Sox took the lead. Sale was 0-6 in his previous seven starts despite an ERA of 3.10 over that span. With one swing, Phegley helped the left-hander end his unfortunate winless stretch. "That was awesome," Sale said. "Being in that situation and watching that ball go over the fence, that was very satisfying to say the least. What a game. We didnt put our heads down, didnt quit." Chicago trailed 3-1 when Phegley cleared the bases with a homer off Detroit starter Anibal Sanchez (7-6). Luke Putkonen came on and got one out before throwing a pitch behind Alexei Ramirez, who started toward the mound before being restrained. Benches and bullpens emptied, but the situation didnt escalate into any sort of fight. Putkonen was ejected, and Detroit manager Jim Leyland argued with umpires at length and was also tossed from the game. "I wasnt trying to hit anybody," Putkonen said. "Just threw a fastball inside, and it got away from me." Ramirez felt otherwise. "Obviously, that wasnt a pitch that was intended to go in the zone," he said through a translator. Sale (6-8) allowed three runs in 6 2-3 innings. Addison Reed pitched the ninth for his 23rd save in 27 chances. Detroits Miguel Cabrera hit his 30th homer of the year, a solo shot in the fifth that gave the Tigers a 3-1 lead. Prince Fielder was up next, and Sale threw a pitch high and inside to the Detroit slugger. Sale said he didnt mean to come close to hitting Fielder. "Just trying to rare back and throw it as hard as I can. Ive said it before -- theres a time and a place for that, and that wasnt the time or the place," Sale said. "Im not even trying to send a message. I wasnt even trying to back him off the plate, honestly. Ive got a lot of respect for Prince, the Detroit Tigers and the game of baseball." The White Sox rallied off Sanchez to take the lead, and then Putkonens pitch nearly hit Ramirez. Leyland looked fired up during the brouhaha that followed, and he twice came back out to argue with umpires. Leyland did not speak to reporters after the game. Plate umpire Chad Fairchild explained the decision to eject Putkonen. "He threw behind him and I deemed it intentional," Fairchild said. Fairchild did not view Sales pitch to Fielder the same way. "There was no reaction from Fielder. He said nothing. There was no reaction from anyone else," Fairchild said. "The only reaction I saw was from Sale, who made a motion like, Damn, it got away." Sale sounded upset with himself afterward. "Even when I threw it on the mound, I was kind of like, Ohhhhh, thats not good. So from the outside looking in, it doesnt look good at all. Like I said, I swear on everything I love, it was unintentional," he said. "Any time your teammates have something like that happen because of something you did, thats not fun. "Obviously, I wont sit here and say (Putkonens pitch) was intentional -- maybe it got away from him as well -- but you see something like that, and you kind of feel like an even bigger idiot, knowing that could have hurt him and done whatever, and that was because of me." With the crowd booing, Ramirez hit a single to right field and then left the game himself because of cramping in his right leg. Detroit centre fielder Austin Jackson couldnt come up with Jeff Keppingers sinking liner to start the sixth and was charged with an error. After a walk and a strikeout, Gordon Beckham singled and the 25-year-old Phegley followed with a grand slam in his 18th major league at-bat. "Especially for Sale, we needed to get him a win," Phegley said. "He threw well and he deserved it." Phegley is 4 for 20 now -- with three homers. Sale allowed 10 hits, walked two and struck out eight. He left in the seventh after allowing a double by Torii Hunter, and Matt Lindstrom came on and got Cabrera on a flyout. Alejandro De Aza made it 6-3 with a homer in the eighth off Phil Coke. De Aza also hit a single and a double. Ramirez opened the scoring in the first with an RBI double, but Matt Tuiasosopo put the Tigers ahead with a two-run homer in the second. Cabreras solo shot increased his RBI total to 94. Hes the first player to reach 30 homers and 90 RBIs before the All-Star break, according to STATS. A pair of Cincinnati Reds -- Tony Perez in 1970 and George Foster in 1977 -- made it to 29 and 90. NOTES: ... Chicago RHP Jake Peavy (fractured left rib) is scheduled for a rehab game Sunday with Double-A Birmingham at Huntsville. ... Detroit hosts Texas on Friday night, with RHP Doug Fister (6-5) taking the mound against RHP Justin Grimm (7-6) of the Rangers. The White Sox play at Philadelphia. Chicago LHP John Danks (2-5) takes on Philadelphia RHP Jonathan Pettibone (5-3).Custom Bulls T-shirts . The CFLs leading rusher kept adding to his gaudy numbers this season and scored the winning touchdown with just over two minutes to play. The New Westminster, B.C., native plowed three yards into the end zone for the last score of a heated, see-saw battle between the two teams with the best records in the CFL. John Paxson Jersey Large .Y. -- Vancouver Canucks goaltender Roberto Luongo had little trouble picking up his first shutout of the season against a Buffalo Sabres team thats having trouble scoring goals. http://www.custombullsjersey.com/ . The players spoke Jan. 13 during a Major League Baseball Players Association conference call after Rodriguez sued the union and Major League Baseball to overturn an arbitrators decision suspending him for the 2014 season and post-season. Cheap Custom Bulls Jersey . -- There were so many positives from the Orlando Magics first victory of the season that it was hard for coach Jacque Vaughn to stop praising his players. Custom Bulls Jerseys . The 28-year-old from Calgary matched his career best after missing just one shot in his two rounds of shooting in the mens 10-kilometre sprint competition. Smith finished in 23 minutes 15.England would be better off starting with Harry Kane instead of Daniel Sturridge in Fridays World Cup Qualifier against Scotland, according to Danny Higginbotham.The Liverpool striker is expected to get the nod to lead the line for Gareth Southgates side at Wembley, but tactical expert Higginbotham believes Scotlands deep defensive line might make it difficult for him to use his pace.Daniel Sturridge is a fantastic player who likes to play on the shoulder of opposition defences, he told Sky Sports. The problem youre going to find is that the back four are going to be happy to play deep and narrow. The midfield are going to come tight and deep too. Watch NOW TV Watch Sky Sports for just ￡6.99. No contract. What you are going to find then is that there isnt going to be the space for Sturridge to run into. It doesnt matter how quick you are, theres not going to be any space to expose the oppositions lack of pace, unless you get an early goal. Danny Higginbotham thinks Daniel Sturridge could struggle to find space Youre not going to shift that back four around too much and that becomes a bit of an issue because youll find a lot of players are grouped together with a lack of movement.ddddddddddddSouthgates apparent decision to start with Sturridge raised eyebrows in some quarters. The 27-year-old scored in Englands recent 2-0 win over Malta, but he is yet to net a Premier League goal this season having fallen down the pecking order under Jurgen Klopp. Merse on England v Scotland England must put Scotland under pressure at Wembley, says Paul Merson Higginbotham believes Tottenhams Kane, who scored from the penalty spot on his return from injury against Arsenal at the weekend, could be better equipped to break Scotland down.What you see with Harry Kane is that hes quite happy to drop deep, said Higginbotham. The problem you then have as a centre-back is, do you go with him or do you not? If you dont then hes able to turn and look for the likes of Raheem Sterling and Theo Walcott. But if you go tight, then youre still leaving space between the centre-backs and full-backs. Thats why I think its key for Kane to play.Higginbotham also discusses how Wayne Rooney could help unlock Scotlands defence from midfield, and assesses Scotlands attacking options. Watch the video above to see his full analysis.Also See:Merse on England v ScotlandSturridge no risk, Rooney isPoppy action down to match chiefVOTE: England or Scotland? ' ' '