October 11, 2012: Tigers 6 Rangers 5 (Tigers win series, 3-2)

The Tigers may have won just 77 games in the regular season, but winning three of the last 5 over the Rangers sends them through to the American League Championship Series. Justin Verlander again outdueled Rangers starter and AL Cy Young Award winner Yu Darvish, with the Tigers holding a 5-1 lead at the end of 6. The Tigers did most of their damage in a 3-run 3rd when Austin Jackson hit a solo homer, and Andy Dirks had a 2-run double that was misplayed by CF Josh Hamilton.

The Rangers made it interesting in the 8th, scoring 4 runs to tie the game and cost Verlander the win. Tigers closer Jose Valverde entered the game with runners on 1st and 2nd and allowed a double to Nelson Cruz that scored a run. Two batters later Daniel Murphy singled to score 2. Finally, a Mike Napoli double tied it up.

The Rangers kept Robbie Ross on the mound for the 9th with the game now tied, and he gave up singles to Jhonny Peralta and Omar Infante, plus struck out Alex Avila. Koji Uehara relieved Ross with runners on 1st and 2nd and got the 2nd out of the inning, but allowed a single to Quintin Berry to score the go-ahead run. Phil Coke got the last three outs to earn the win and send the Tigers to a matchup with the A's. The Tigers will have home field advantage, despite winning 17 less games than the A's in the regular season.

The game was reminiscent of game 7 of my 2010 ALCS between the Tigers and Rangers. The Rangers had a 2-run lead going into the bottom of the 9th, but the Tigers scored 3 for the walk-off win. The winning pitcher for the Tigers in that game? Phil Coke, same as today.

The series MVP is Verlander, who didn't get the win in this one and was responsible for two of the four runs in the 7th, but otherwise was dominant in both of his starts. The Tigers will need him to continue this dominance if they have any hope of beating Oakland.

BOXSCORE: 2012 Detroit Tigers At 2012 Texas Rangers                10/11/2012
 
  Tigers             AB  R  H RBI AVG     Rangers            AB  R  H RBI AVG
  A.Jackson CF        5  1  1  1 .409     I.Kinsler 2B        4  1  1  0 .222  
  Q.Berry LF          4  1  1  1 .333     E.Andrus SS         4  0  1  0 .200  
  M.Cabrera 3B        3  1  0  0 .167     J.Hamilton CF,LF    4  1  1  1 .286  
  P.Fielder 1B        3  1  0  0 .211     A.Beltre 3B         4  1  1  0 .278  
  D.Young DH          3  0  0  0 .167     N.Cruz RF           3  1  1  1 .188  
  A.Dirks RF          4  1  2  2 .412     M.Young DH          4  0  1  0 .167  
  J.Peralta SS        3  0  1  1 .278     D.Murphy LF         4  0  2  2 .211  
D-D.Kelly PR          0  1  0  0 ----   A-C.Gentry PR,CF      0  1  0  0 ----  
E-R.Santiago SS       0  0  0  0 ----     M.Napoli C          3  0  1  1 .333  
  A.Avila C           4  0  0  0 .000   B-L.Martin PR         0  0  0  0 ----  
  O.Infante 2B        4  0  1  0 .300   C-G.Soto C            0  0  0  0 .250  
                                          M.Moreland 1B       4  0  0  0 .077  
                     -- -- -- ---                            -- -- -- ---      
         Totals      33  6  6  5                 Totals      34  5  9  5
 
A-Pinch Ran For Murphy In 8th Inning
B-Pinch Ran For Napoli In 8th Inning
C-Subbed Defensively (C ) For Martin In 9th Inning
D-Pinch Ran For Peralta In 9th Inning
E-Subbed Defensively (SS) For Kelly In 9th Inning
 
Tigers.......... 1 0 3  0 0 1  0 0 1  -  6  6  0
Rangers......... 0 0 1  0 0 0  0 4 0  -  5  9  2
 
Tigers (3-2)             IP       H   R  ER  BB  SO  HR  PC    ERA
J.Verlander               7       6   3   3   5   3   0 113   2.40
J.Valverde BS(1st)        0 1/3   3   2   2   0   0   0  12  13.50
P.Coke WIN(1-0)           1 2/3   0   0   0   0   2   0  21   0.00
Totals                    9       9   5   5   5   5   0
 
Rangers (2-3)            IP       H   R  ER  BB  SO  HR  PC    ERA
Y.Darvish                 5       3   5   3   5   5   1 103   5.00
R.Ross LOSS(0-1)          3 1/3   2   1   1   0   4   0  46   3.60
K.Uehara                  0 2/3   1   0   0   0   1   0  12   9.82
Totals                    9       6   6   4   5  10   1
 
ATTENDANCE- 45,117 DATE- Thursday, October 11th 2012 TIME- Night WEATHER- Good
UMPIRES- Tim McClelland, Ted Barrett, Brian Runge, Marvin Hudson
T- 3:10
LEFT ON BASE- Tigers: 6  Rangers: 8
DOUBLE PLAYS- Tigers: 1  Rangers: 0
ERRORS- J.Hamilton, D.Murphy
DOUBLES- A.Dirks(1st), J.Hamilton(2nd), N.Cruz(1st), M.Napoli(2nd)
TRIPLES- A.Dirks(2nd)
HOME RUNS- A.Jackson(2nd)
RBIs- A.Jackson(5th), Q.Berry(1st), A.Dirks-2(3rd), J.Peralta(2nd),
      J.Hamilton(4th), N.Cruz(3rd), D.Murphy-2(3rd), M.Napoli(1st)
STOLEN BASES- Q.Berry(2nd), C.Gentry(1st)
SACRIFICE FLIES- J.Peralta
WALKS- Q.Berry, M.Cabrera-2, P.Fielder, D.Young, I.Kinsler, J.Hamilton,
       A.Beltre, N.Cruz, M.Napoli
HIT BY PITCH- E.Andrus
STRIKE OUTS- A.Jackson-3, Q.Berry, M.Cabrera-2, D.Young, A.Avila-3, I.Kinsler,
             E.Andrus, A.Beltre, M.Moreland-2
GIDP- J.Hamilton
2-out RBI- A.Dirks-2, Q.Berry
RLISP 2-out- A.Dirks, M.Napoli, J.Peralta, A.Beltre, M.Young, E.Andrus,
             I.Kinsler, M.Cabrera
WEB GEMS- Bot 2nd: Austin Jackson robbed Mike Napoli of a Homerun!
          Bot 3rd: Alex Avila blocked the plate, saving a run!
 
The Detroit Tigers and the Texas Rangers locked up in an exciting one-run game
at Rangers Ballpark.  The final score was the Detroit Tigers 6, the Texas
Rangers 5.
 
The game was won by Detroit when they scored a run in the 9th inning.  Jhonny
Peralta laced a base-hit.  Alex Avila got his chance to keep things going,
but he went down on strikes.  Omar Infante then stroked a one-base hit.
After another out, Quintin Berry stepped in and he banged out a single.
Miguel Cabrera was the next batter, but he struck out.  Despite losing, Texas
out-hit Detroit 9 to 6.  
 
The victory was credited to Phil Coke(1-0) who went 1 and 2/3 innings,
allowing no runs. Robbie Ross(0-1) took the loss in relief.  He allowed 2
hits and no walks in 3 and 1/3 innings.