Nelson Cruz tied this game up at 3-3 with one swing of the bat in the bottom of the seventh. Alexi Ogando handled the top of the eighth with ease, but then Joaquin Benoit turned in a scoreless inning of his own in the bottom half, albeit a much luckier scoreless inning. Elvis Andrus drew a leadoff walk, and then, with Andrus running, Josh Hamilton lined out into a double play. Baseball and inches and everything.
Rangers vs. Tigers: Detroit Can’t Score With Bases Loaded In Ninth
Off we went to the top of the ninth, and that's where it all got really interesting. Ogando stayed in for three batters, retiring the first two before Ramon Santiago dropped a single in front of David Murphy. Up came Don Kelly, and that caused Ron Washington to go to the bullpen, bringing in Mike Gonzalez and taking Ogando out.
It was an unpopular move, as the crowd booed Washington when he trudged to the mound, and it didn’t even work out, as the lefty Gonzalez allowed the lefty Kelly to pull a double into right field on the second pitch.
Yet even with Santiago's speed, and even though the double came with two outs, Santiago held up at third base instead of going for home. That brought Miguel Cabrera, and that brought Neftali Feliz.
Feliz intentionally walked Cabrera - puzzling that he issued an intentional walk to start off - to face the switch-hitting Victor Martinez with the bases loaded. And on a 2-2 pitch, Martinez hit a soft flare to center that Elvis Andrus ran down for the final out. Andrus bobbled the ball and nearly let it come out of his glove, but he secured it safely, so the score stayed 3-3, and the Rangers prepared to bat.
Bottom half. Tie game. Jose Valverde on.
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