Rangers Pound Tigers 15-5, Win ALCS 4-2

The Texas Rangers are headed to the World Series for the second straight year, and the second time in franchise history.

The Tigers took an early 2-0 lead with homers from Miguel Cabrera and Jhonny Peralta.  Then Michael Young and the rest of the Rangers’ line-up came up in the third and took over.  Young shinned the brightest in a line-up that lit up the scoreboard all night, going 3-6 with a homer and five RBI.

The bottom of the third saw 14 Rangers step up to the plate, and they were able to put up nine runs. Young was a big contributor with two doubles and four RBI in the inning. Adrian Beltre, Daniel Murphy and Ian Kinsler contributed the remaining five RBI. The barrage forced Jim Leyland to dip into his bullpen early, and often. He had to use four pitchers in the inning, but to no avail as the Rangers jumped to a 9-2 lead before Rick Porcello was able to get the third out.

The Tigers didn’t give up. Austin Jackson added another two runs with a homer in the fifth with two outs, shrinking the lead to 9-4.  However, the Rangers kept piling on the runs.

They added another three runs between the fifth and sixth innings making it 12-4, with the Rangers not hitting a single home run.  That all changed in the seventh as they kept pounding the ball.  Young added a solo shot, becoming the only Ranger other than Nelson Cruz to hit a homer in this series, and Cruz hit his sixth homer of the ALCS. Those six homers and his 13 RBI are both post-season series records. Those two homers put the Rangers up 15-4.

Cabrera and Jackson were the only bright spots in the Tigers’ lineup this game. Together they went 4-8 with four RBI and three home runs. Despite the Tigers’ total of four homers in the game, they couldn’t put up more than five runs, falling to the Rangers 15-5.

Derek Holland started the game for the Rangers, letting up seven hits and four earned runs over his 4.2 innings.  However, since he did not make it the required five innings to earn a decision, this victory would go to Alexi Ogando. The Rangers are the second team in MLB history to win a seven-game series without a starting pitcher earning a win. The other was the Cleveland Indians, who beat the Baltimore Orioles in the 1997 ALCS. They went on to lose to the Marlins in a seven game World Series.

Now the Rangers await the winner of of the NLCS.  The St. Louis Cardinals lead that series 3-2 over the Brewers with game six scheduled for Sunday October 16th in Milwaukee, first-pitch at 4:05pm. You can hear that game, coverage starting with the pre-game show at 3:00pm, on 104.5 “The Team” ESPN Radio.