Rangers Trounce Tigers 15-5, Heading Back To World Series

The Detroit Tigers’ 2011 season came to an end on Saturday with a 15-5 loss to the Texas Rangers in Game 6 of the ALCS. Texas now heads back to the World Series, while Detroit heads home to ponder what might have been.

But despite the frustrations that inevitably come with playoff elimination, Detroit fans were happy about the season and the ride the Tigers took them on. Over at Bless You Boys, questions about some of the ALCS decisions were mixed in with a reminder of how special the team’s run was.

For the second-straight year, the Texas Rangers are in the World Series, this time earning the right to play for the title with a 15-5 win over the Detroit Tigers in Game 6 of the ALCS. Making it to the World Series is hard enough, but doing so in back-to-back years is always a feat, and the Rangers now have a chance to do what they couldn’t last year by winning it all.

After the game, the talk in the Texas clubhouse centered on the motivation heading into the season, and the desire to make it back to the World Series.

Well, really one thing.

Penny did retire two of the first three Rangers he faced, but after an intentional walk and consecutive singles, the Rangers had piled on for two more runs. They’ve now scored in three of the six innings, the same as the Tigers ... with the difference, of course, being that the Rangers scored nine runs in the third.

I doubt that Jim Leyland is one of those managers, though. He seems more like a Whitey Herzog kind of guy:

Unwritten rule, my ass. People talk about the “book” in baseball. There ain’t no damn book, and if there was, you’d rewrite it whenever you need to.(Looks like you can read a bunch of the linked book online, which is good. I’m sure the author made millions off the royalties already.)

So you’re saying there’s a chance.

The win-expectancy chart is right back to 97%. Easy come, easy go.

Okay, so this game’s practically out of hand so it’s hard to blame the broadcast for going off the rails a bit.

But when the subject of Moneyball: The Movie came up, things went from bad to worse in a hurry.

Early in Game 6 and it’s deja vu all over again.

Which obviously helps explain, just a little bit, why they’re down 3-2 in the series.

Or Endy Chavez.

But his value will always, always, always be in his defense. By accounts statistical and anecdotal, he’s one of the very best defensive outfielders in the game. He’s better than David Murphy, he’s better than Josh Hamilton, and he’s better than Nelson Cruz. But those three will start in the field, whereas Endy Chavez will DH.

It’s probably a hunch that has Leyland moving Ryan Raburn up to second and switching around the bottom of the order as well. With their proverbial backs to the wall and a trip home for the offseason looming if they don’t win, who’s to say it won’t work?

Game Date/Time: October 15, 8:05 p.m. EDT

Stadium: Rangers Ballpark in Arlington, Arlington, Texas