Rangers take 3-1 lead behind Nelson Cruz's arm, bat

DETROIT — In an instant, the beat-up Tigers looked overmatched and out of their league.

It happened in bang-bang fashion in an explosive four-run top of the 11th inning by the Rangers in their 7-3 victory in Game 4 of the ALCS Wednesday night in front of a dispirited crowd of 42,234 at Comerica Park that has Texas one victory away from a second straight World Series appearance.

The Tigers are relying on their ace, Justin Verlander, in Thursday afternoon’s Game 5 against C.J. Wilson to send the series back to Arlington, Texas.

“Hopefully the big guy can get it done,” Tigers manager Jim Leyland said of Verlander. “It’s one of the best games I’ve ever been involved in. It just didn’t come out the right way.”

That was in large part because of a deep, relentless Rangers lineup, which received yet another homer from Nelson Cruz — and a game-changing throw to the plate — and a strong bullpen.

Josh Hamilton led off the deciding inning against Jose Valverde, pitching his fifth inning in three days, with his third double off the series. After Valverde struck out Michael Young, whose single in the Rangers’ three-run sixth gave the Rangers a 3-2 lead, Leyland intentionally walked Adrian Beltre. Mike Napoli, who hit .383 after the All-Star break, singled to bring in Hamilton, making it 4-3.

Cruz, 1-for-15 in the ALDS, jumped on the first pitch he saw, a 94-mph fastball, and slammed it over the wall in left-center for his fourth homer of the series, making it 7-3 and sending most of the crowd heading for the exits. They had waited out a rain delay that pushed back the start of the game for 2 hours, 13 minutes.

“For you guys who haven’t seen Nelson every day, he’s capable of doing what he’s doing,” Rangers manager Ron Washington said. “I’m happy as the Texas Rangers we’re reaping the benefit of it.”

Cruz’s walk-off grand slam in the 11th inning of Game 2 also gave the Rangers a 7-3 victory.

“If you keep swinging, good results are going to come,” Cruz said.

Up until Napoli’s and Cruz’s hits, the most excited Washington had been all night came in the sixth inning. It wasn’t the point in the inning when his team scratched out a couple of runs against Rick Porcello, who had been virtually unhittable until then, to tie the score.

No, it was shortly thereafter when Young, 3-for-29 thus far in the postseason, singled in Elvis Andrus to give the Rangers a 3-2 lead. Ian Kinsler and Andrus preceded Young with run-scoring hits that tied it.
Leyland’s turn to get excited came in the seventh.

That was when veteran Brandon Inge, who hit .197 with three homers — all of them against lefties — this season, launched a solo blast off righthander Alexi Ogando, on an 0-and-2 pitch, with two outs in the inning to tie it at 3. “A dramatic home run,” Leyland said.

It appeared as if the Tigers might push the go-ahead run across in the eighth.

After Ryan Raburn grounded out to start the inning against Mike Adams, Washington made the second-guessable decision to put the go-ahead run on, intentionally walking Miguel Cabrera. Victor Martinez followed with a chopper over the head of Young at first, allowing Cabrera to reach third. With the crowd roaring, Delmon Young sent a fly ball to medium right where Cruz settled under it near the line. Cruz made the catch, then fired an on-target one-hopper to Napoli, who blocked the plate and braced for a collision with the 6-4, 240-pound Cabrera, who runs as well as an engineless car. Cabrera lowered his shoulder but delivered only a glancing blow and Napoli, affectionately called “dirtbag” by Washington, held on for the final out of the inning that sucked much of the energy from the crowd.

“Critical time in the game and Nellie gave me a good throw,” Napoli said. “Just a great play.”

Leyland didn’t second-guess his third-base coach, Gene Lamont. “I thought it was a great decision to send him,” Leyland said. “If the throw is offline, he makes it. It was the right call. Cruz threw it on the money.”