Rangers 7, Tigers 3 (F/11): I Don't Know, Nelson Cruz

Exciting, but somewhat gauche.

Really, Nelson Cruz? A walk-off grand slam? Not a seeing-eyed ground ball, or a little flare the other way? A crisp single to left, a lined shot into the corner, or even a ball to the gap would have been perfectly acceptable, but a walk-off grand slam, the first officially recorded in the history of postseason baseball, there is a certain muchness to it that is almost indecorous, unseemly. It is more than the moment demanded; I guess that is the nature of my grievance. Also I kind of want the Tigers to win this thing, so that is another aspect of my grievance.


Good for Cruz and everything, with his second home run of the night to win it (his first drew the Rangers even in the seventh after Ryan Raburn's three-run shot had put Detroit ahead in the early going). But what really stands out about last night's game for me was the pretty incredible ninth, in which both teams loaded the bases, but neither scored. There's a great video recap of the inning here (I apologize for linking you to so much Joe Buck, but my hands are tied on this one). Do you think Tigers third-base coach Gene Lamont wishes he'd sent Ramon Santiago home on Don Kelly's double with two away? With two outs, the general rule would be to send the runner from first on that ball, but Nelson Cruz got to it quick and got it in even quicker, so what can you do? After a cowardly (not really) intentional walk to Cabrera, Victor Martinez, who has been money all year, popped up to very shallow centre. It nearly dropped in, and then really nearly dropped in as Elvis Andrus bobbled the ball. He jogged off the field grinning, fully aware that he'd just gotten away with one. 


Then Valverde came out and kind Valverde'd around a little: a lead-off double to Beltre that was smoked high off the wall; an intentional walk to Napoli; and an extremely hit batsman in the person of Nelson Cruz to load the bases with nobody out. After David Murphy's shallow fly ball to left for the first out, Cabrera and Alex Avila turned Mitch Moreland's broken bat grounder to first into a beautiful 3-2-3 double play to end the inning, the kind of unlikely play that everybody would be talking about today if the Tigers had gone on to win it, but they totally didn't, so . . .


KS

Tigers 5, Yankees 4: Verlander Not At His Best, Strikes Out Only Eleven

Swing and a miss.

Justin Verlander wasn't sharp early, and allowed two runs in the first. He wasn't sharp late, and gave up another pair in the seventh before stranding a runner in the eighth to wrap up his evening. But in between, he kind of lit it up, hitting 101 MPH on the radar gun and throwing a curveball that was simply unfair and probably wrong. C. C. Sabathia pretty much walked everybody and relied on the double play to get out of it, which is one approach, granted, but he didn't make it out of the sixth. With the game knotted at four in the home half of the seventh, it was Rafael Soriano on the mound for the Yankees in relief, which is almost certainly the right move, but the right move didn't work: Delmon Young yeah Delmon Young lofted one over the right field wall to put the Tigers in front for good. It was . . . so awesome. Equally awesome: Jose Valverde -- who is at once worse than his fifty saves in fifty opportunities might imply, and better than those internet baseball nerds (no dis; they are my people) who fall all over themselves to tell you that he is much, much worse than that statistic suggest would have you believe -- striking Derek Jeter out swinging (a pitch after striking out Derek Jeter looking, if you know what I am implying when I say that to you) to end the game with two runners aboard. 


In closing, let's all look at this picture of Jim Leyland looking like the most lovable Muppet.

KS