Rangers and Tigers Edge Ahead in ALDS
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October 4, 2011 TheFreshOutlook  |
The Texas Rangers and the Detroit Tigers register wins in Game 3 of their respective American League Division Play-off Series.
With both series poised nicely at 1-1 going in to Monday’s Major League Baseball (MLB) action, the Rays welcomed their foes to Tropicana Field and it was a four-run seventh inning that did all of the damage for the visitors in their 4-3 win.
In a four-hour-long encounter packed with tension and drama, the Rangers had to survive a nervous final few innings before obtaining the victory they craved to put them one win away from the American League Championship Series (ALCS) for the second-straight year.
Mike Napoli got their brilliant seventh inning up and running with a two-run homer off of Rays’ starting pitcher David Price, which Adrian Beltre also profited from to score, before Josh Hamilton added a two-run single that got the Rangers some breathing space and, eventually, the win.
Desmond Jennings had hit a homer in the fourth to get the Rays off the mark but that was the only hit they managed against Rangers’ starter Colby Lewis in the first six innings.
“Colby was great,” designated hitter Michael Young said of his team-mate’s performance. “That was fun. Those last three innings are what play-off baseball is all about.”
Then came that magical seventh inning courtesy of Napoli and Hamilton, before the Rangers began to rotate their own bullpen and almost threw the match away.
Darren Oliver took over from Lewis on the mound but gave up three straight singles to Johnny Damon, Ben Zobrist and Casey Kotchman to leave the bases loaded. Alexi Ogando was introduced to steady the ship and although Damon was allowed to score a single Ogando closed out the inning at 4-2.
Mike Adams took over the pitching duties for the eighth inning and immediately gave up a home run to Jennings for 4-3, so Michael Gonzalez became their fifth pitcher, and he was able to see out the victory.
The other ALDS meeting between the Yankees and the Tigers was a close-knit affair that the home side won 5-4, which also leaves them just one victory away from taking the series.
Justin Verlander, their American League Most Valuable Player (AL MVP) candidate, put in an impressive performance on the mound to outlast the efforts of the Yankees’ CC Sabathia.
Yet he was not willing to take all the credit, claiming the help of his team was essential in the victory.
“I lost my rhythm for three batters,” he explained, “and all of a sudden, you look up and it’s a tie game. But this team has a never-say-die attitude. We did what we’ve done all year, which is either come from behind or have a big hit when we need it.”
Brandon Inge starred with the bat with two runs to his name for the Tigers while Don Kelly, Austin Jackson and Dmitri Young added singles.
Derek Jeter, Curtis Granderson, Jorge Posada and Russell Martin notched for the Yankees.
Game 4 for these two series takes place on Tuesday evening, with Game 3 of the National League Division Play-off Series (NLDS) also taking place.
By Leigh Gruffydd Sanders
[Image courtesy of Red3biggs]