DETROIT -- Anibal Sanchez lost a no-hit bid in the eighth inning but the Detroit Tigers lost something even more important on Friday -- their best player.

All-Star first baseman Miguel Cabrera suffered a left calf strain and could be headed for the disabled list, putting a damper on the Tigers' 8-6 victory over the Toronto Blue Jays on Friday night at Comerica Park.

Cabrera, who is batting .350 with 15 home runs and 54 RBIs, pulled up running from first to second during the fourth inning as designated hitter Victor Martinez fouled off a Drew Hutchison pitch. MRI results were not immediately made available but Detroit manager Brad Ausmus is pessimistic about a quick recovery.

“I'm not optimistic he's going to avoid the DL,” Ausmus said.

Detroit built an 8-0 lead despite the loss of its offensive leader, then nearly squandered it after Toronto left fielder and ex-Tiger Ezequiel Carrera smacked a one-out single to end Sanchez's try for a second career no-hitter. He pitched a no-hitter against Arizona on Sept. 6, 2006, for the Florida Marlins.

"I was just focused on Carrera to hit a ground ball to get a double play and get out of the inning," Sanchez said. "He was fighting all through the at-bat. I tried to get ahead in the count and after that, he was fighting on every pitch."

Sanchez (7-7) held the Blue Jays to two walks in the first seven innings. After first baseman Justin Smoak walked to lead off the eighth, he retired the next batter before Carrera's clean single on an outside changeup.

"Every time he's lost one, he's shaken me off and the next (swing) is a base hit," Tigers catcher Alex Avila said. "So this time he's thinking 'Don't shake Alex off, don't shake Alex off.' He doesn't and gives up a base hit. So I screwed that one up."

Sanchez gave up singles to the next two batters before he was pulled. Toronto proceeded to score six runs in the inning, capped by catcher Dioner Navarro's three-run double.

"Typical Sanchez. He throws anything at any time," Blue Jays manager John Gibbons said of his team's silence until the eighth. "He's a master of that. He's been one of the best pitchers in baseball for a number of years. He uses both sides of the plate and throws four or five different pitchers and commands them all pretty good."

Joakim Soria notched his 18th save with a scoreless ninth. He struck out third baseman Josh Donaldson with a 71 MPH curveball with a runner on to end it.

Detroit's most recent no-hitter was May 7, 2011, when Justin Verlander recorded the second no-hitter of his career against the Blue Jays.

Victor Martinez had three hits and scored twice while J.D. Martinez contributed two hits and two RBIs for the Tigers (40-39), who snapped a three-game losing streak.

Hutchison (8-2) allowed seven runs (five earned) on 10 hits in 4 2/3 innings for the Blue Jays (42-40), who committed three errors in the opener of a 10-game road trip. Carrera made two throwing errors during the Tigers' five-run outburst in the fourth after Cabrera's injury.

"We were uncharacteristically sloppy tonight with some of throws we didn't back up and things like that," Gibbons said. "You never know if that doesn't happen what the difference in runs scored is going to be. That was unusual. We haven't seen that all year."

The Tigers haven't seen their lineup card without Cabrera on it, except for two days of rest. That's going to change.

"We've just got to pick it up by the bootstraps and find a way to do it," Avila said.

NOTES: Detroit designated veteran relievers Joba Chamberlain and Tom Gorzelanny for assignment and called up RHP Drew VerHagen from Double-A Erie and RHP Jeff Ferrell from Triple-A Toledo. Chamberlain was 0-2 with a 4.09 ERA and Gorzelanny was 1-1 with a 6.38 ERA. "You're looking for effectiveness," GM Dave Dombrowski said. "They've been effective at times but not on a consistent basis." ... The Tigers also sent C Bryan Holaday to Toledo to make room for C Alex Avila, who was in the lineup after being activated from the 15-day disabled list. ... The Blue Jays recalled the contracts of LHP Felix Doubront and RHP Ryan Tepera from Triple-A Buffalo. They filled the roster spots of LHP Matt Boyd, who was sent to Buffalo late Thursday, and RHP Todd Redmond, who was designated for assignment. ... Boyd became the first starter in team history to give up seven runs without recording an out in Thursday's 12-6 loss to Boston. Dave Steib was the only other Blue Jays starter to face seven batters without getting an out, also against Boston in 1990.