Rangers Explode Against Jose Valverde, Win 7-3 In 11 Innings

The Detroit Tigers are on the brink of elimination after squandering chances in Game 4 of the ALCS en route to a 7-3 loss to the Texas Rangers in 11 innings. Jose Valverde kept his perfect season alive -- the Tigers’ closer has yet to blow a save -- but was tagged with the loss after giving up four runs in the top of the 11th in a non-save situation. For Detroit fans, it was a frustrating night.

Despite the loss, Detroit manager Jim Leyland seemed positive about the game, at least in its immediate aftermath.

Over at SB Nation’s Tigers’ blog, Bless You Boys, the disgust with Detroit’s offensive output on Wednesday was readily apparent.

For more on this game, check out the rest of the Baseball Nation live-blog and Rob Neyer’s recap.

Where should we start?

Semi.

After Napoli put the Rangers up, Nelson Cruz put the game away with a three-run homer. The difference between a 2-2 series tie and a 3-1 lead can’t be understated, and the Rangers are just a win away from the World Series.

With one out in the bottom of the tenth inning of a 3-3 game that will ultimately decide who goes to the World Series, Jim Leyland made sure that his best hitter didn’t bat.

Well, that’s not entirely fair. I’m not sure if Leyland told Austin Jackson to steal or if the outfielder had the green light. But he certainly didn’t have a red light, and he was thrown out trying to steal second. What was a one-on, one-out situation became a bases-empty situation, and Ryan Raburn ended the inning by striking out. Miguel Cabrera was left on deck.

Granted, if their situations were reversed -- Leyland were managing in Texas, rather than Washington in Michigan -- they would almost certainly reverse their tactics, too.

Which might work out for him. But I can’t imagine many worse things than a manager losing an extra-innings game without ever using his best relief pitcher. Which reminds me of a few games that Washington managed, roughly one year ago ...

I always feel bad for Jose Valverde when he finishes an inning in a non-save situation. There’s pizzazz, but there isn’t enough of it. It’s like watching a genius operating at less-than-full capacity, like Orson Welles doing commercials.

Sort of like that but not as depressingly amusing. Valverde came on in the top of the tenth and set down Yorvit Torrealba, Ian Kinsler, and Elvis Andrus in order. No drama. So sad. So effective. The score is still 3-3.

Benoit has played for three teams in his career. One team didn’t get an equitable share of his value.

Texas developed him over the better part of the decade, and spit him out into the real world as an injured reliever. Now he’s handling huge innings in a bid to keep the Rangers from their second straight pennant. How ungrateful.

Hey, that was interesting!

Ron Washington just ordered one of the more unorthodox moves in postseason history.

And the sinker-throwing Porcello is looking completely dominating through three innings, allowing just one hit while striking out five and inducing four grounders. All hail the sinker!

There’s just one problem with that exclamation of sinkerophilia: Porcello is getting a lot of his outs with the slider. And if you go by FanGraphs’ metrics, the slider was actually his most effective pitch in 2011.

The first part of that is fine; if the Rangers take a 3-1 lead in the Series, they’re in fantastic shape.

The rest of it, though?

I’m sure we’ll see some runs eventually. Or at least one. We’re guaranteed one. But we’ve seen no runs yet, through two innings of play.

This is probably an idea I’ll explore in an offseason feature, but there are some players who look way better than they really are. As in, if no one kept track of any stats -- innings pitched, strikeouts, runs allowed -- there are some players who would be thought of way more highly than anyone else.

Porcello retired the side on eight pitches in the first, throwing seven strikes. It looked like that was how he always pitches.

Okay, not all statistics.

But this batter-vs.-pitcher thing has gotten completely out of hand.

If Bud Selig were really an evil super-villain genius, he’d have a functioning weather machine by now. For the third time in the ALCS -- and what feels like the 19th time in the playoffs -- a game is likely to be affected by the weather. From FOX:

Rain delay. Estimated first pitch time is 5:15pm ET. Stay tuned cause we’ve got some great features & interviews lined up.I’m secretly glad that this means more A.J. Pierzynski’s face than baseball. No, truly I am.

It’s not a fully healthy Delmon, though, and Victor Martinez is struggling with a similar issue with his side. Everyone will be watching the first swings they take in the game, studying their faces and looking for a telltale grimace or two.

Now, bad weather has already either arrived or is forecast for both league championship series sites, Detroit and St. Louis. Here is what the Detroit-area radar looked like at 1:15 p.m. ET:k

That’s a still image, and you might think that because weather generally moves from west to east, that it would be clearing out. Not so this time; this rain shield is moving from south to north, with a slight westerly component. Thus it may well be raining in Detroit for several hours; the game, scheduled for 4:19 p.m. Eastern, could be delayed or postponed. There are a few breaks south of the shield; the teams and MLB will hope for those breaks to arrive by game time.