Year of the Napoli ‘Cruz-ing’ on to the World Series, Texas Rangers go 3 – 1 in American League Championship Series (Part 1)
The Texas Rangers had a point to prove with their strong hitting offensive power and they did so in Game 4 of the American League Championship Series when they beat the Detroit Tigers, 7 – 3, at the Comerica Park in Detroit on Wednesday, October 12. The
victory came off the eleventh inning and it was a mix of plays that got the Texans to a 3 – 1 advantage in the tournament. The victory was owed to Mike Napoli and Nelson Cruz, as they brought the Texas Rangers back up.
The Rangers looked weak in Game 3 of the series when they lost 2 – 5 to the Tigers. However Manager Ron Washington made sure his club would strike back hard in the returning game at Comerica Park. Throwing in Colby Lewis and Koji Uehara in Game 3 looked
like a strategic move and it proved immensely useful when Game 4 went into play.
Matt Harrison is known for being a groundball specialist and he made his efforts count as he grounded out some of his hitters, while retiring a good chunk of them on pop outs. The hurler reminded many Texas experts of Detroit’s own Doug Fister, who picked
up the Tigers’ first win in the tournament in Game 3.
The situation reversed in this case, as Harrison was limited to just five innings. He conceded two runs off three hits before Alexi Ogando came on for the Rangers. The make shift bullpen reliever was unlucky to concede a home run to Brandon Inge in the seventh
inning but he made his mark by pitching two innings without conceding another hit.
Mike Adams and Darren Oliver were right on the mark for the Texas manager as the club kept their tally down till the game was pushed for extra time after things remained even at the end of the ninth inning. It was Scott Feldman who returned after a short
rest from Game 2.
The hurler was instrumental in that game as he pitched more than four innings to pin Detroit down. Unlucky to pick up the win then, he did so in Game 4 as the Texas hitters pulled out four runs in the following innings to end the game in their favour.
Neftali Feliz pitched the last inning, ending a good night for the Rangers on top.
The Tigers however were very strong in the first nine innings with Rick Porcello kicking off the pitching duration with 6.2 innings. He was the club’s best performer as he allowed just three runs off eight hits. Al Alburquerque was another star performer
for the club as he lasted only 1/3 inning, conceding a walk. Joaquin Benoit was inspirational, eating away two innings to stretch the game beyond nine innings.
It was Jose Valverde who left the Tigers weak as he pitched 1.1 innings, conceding four runs off three hits. In the end Valverde’s bad performance left the Tigers going back to a 2-game deficit.
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