Tigers Halve Deficit with Game 3 Win
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October 12, 2011 TheFreshOutlook  |
The Detroit Tigers roared to a 5-2 win over the Texas Rangers in Game 3 of the ALCS on Tuesday.
With a victory at Comerica Park the Texas Rangers would have all but sealed a win in the American League Championship Series (ALCS) and a place in the 2011 World Series against either the Milwaukee Brewers or the St. Louis Cardinals.
But rather than limp out with a whimper at their home field, the Detroit Tigers came out fighting and will live another day after a 5-2 victory.
Other than a first-inning wobble, starter Doug Fister produced an excellent display while Victor Martinez, Jhonny Peralta and Miguel Cabrera did their jobs with the bat.
Despite a number of minor injuries carried by the Tigers roster, the fight in their bellies could not be questioned on the night, a fact not missed by catcher Alex Avila. “We’re kind of limping through this series right now,” he said. “You have to find a way to get the job done regardless.”
Martinez outlined the fighting spirit of the Tigers camp when he added: “The only way I don’t play [in Game 4] is if I wake up and I’m dead.”
Ian Kinsler, Elvis Andrus and Josh Hamilton all hit singles to get the Rangers on the board in the first but then Fister, who only joined the Tigers in July, pretty much shut down their attack for the next six innings.
At the bottom of the fourth Martinez scored a homer to bring Detroit back level before Austin Jackson scored off of a double from Cabrera to give them hope in the fifth.
Peralta hit his home run in the sixth, while Andy Dirks also scored from an Austin Jackson single and Cabrera notched a homer of his own in the seventh.
Yorvit Torrealba got one back for the Rangers in the eighth but by then the Tigers’ victory was complete.
Game 4 again takes place in Detroit tonight, while in the National League Championship Series (NLCS) Milwaukee and St. Louis will battle out Game 3 tonight with the series poised nicely at 1-1.
By Leigh Gruffydd Sanders
[Image courtesy of Keith Allison]