Rangers Win 7-3 On Nelson Cruz’s Walkoff Grand Slam In 11th

It was Cruz’s second home run of the game and third in the series -- and as a reward, his teammates showered him with anything they could get their hands on in the clubhouse:

While the Tigers and Rangers were playing, Baseball Nation’s writers were live blogging the game. Here’s the highlights of their in-game analysis:

Well, they need to do more than that. They need to survive the 11th and eventually score, because if they don’t score they probably won’t win.

But looking ahead, the bottom of the 11th feels like the most dangerous inning for them.

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.

Bottom half. Tie game. Jose Valverde on.

Wouldn’t it be nice, a game tied 3-3 in the eighth inning, to have a relief pitcher who’s perfectly capable of throwing 100 miles an hour and going three or four innings in a pinch?

There’s just no comparison, as Ogando pitched brilliantly as a reliever in 2010 and effectively as a starter through most of 2011.

On the very next pitch, Cruz launched a ball that was about 13,047 feet high, about 400 feet long, and plenty fair. It banged off the fair pole for a homer that tied the game at 3-3.

Ta-da! Jam ---> no jam.

Granted, if you take those plots as gospel, Vanover missed a couple of strikes that were well within the zone. But it’s those (apparently) outside pitches that get all the attention, and Vanover simply has to do better than this. Or else he might ... actually he might nothing. MLB is powerless to do anything at all. Which is a shame, but what are you gonna do? Someday we’ll have robots and then we’ll have one less thing to write (complain) about.

If the Rangers come back to win this game, why that $7 million will have just paid for itself! Either that or cost the Rangers in the money they could have made from merchandise in Game 6 and/or Game 7 because they won the series so quickly. One of those. Still, for this game at least, Feldman looks like a pitcher who can still help the Rangers.

We just had ourselves one heck of a top of the third. Allow me to explain! It’s my job to explain.

3-2 Detroit, bottom three. Max Scherzer has been sitting for a while.

Walks will kill you.

Doubles will kill you more.

Well, that could have gone a lot better for the Detroit Tigers.

After jumping ahead of leadoff man Austin Jackson with two quick strikes, Rangers starter Derek Holland threw four straight balls and walked Jackson.

Which pitcher would you rather have going forward? Hell, I don’t know. Sounds like something worth looking into! Here’s a comparison of the two pitchers in a select few categories:

Minor-league performance

Scherzer used to be the standard hard-throwing, hard-missing prospect, but his career walk rate has gone down every year in the majors. His strikeout rate has too, tough, which might mean the increased control came at a price of relying on his fielders more. Don’t see a problem with a flyball pitcher saying, “Here you go, Delmon and Magglio: Run ‘em down.” Nope.

Now, being able to pencil Young’s name back in the lineup, surely, is a big lift for the Tigers. Young slugged .458 with Detroit during the season after coming over in a trade; against the Yankees in the Division Series, he went 6-for-19 with three home runs. From Detroit’s perspective, Young is an important bat, so it’s important to have him back.

Two things, though. For one, he’s Delmon Young. Let’s not make too much of what this guy brings to the table. This season, he posted a .302 OBP. Over the past three seasons, he’s posted a .316 OBP, and a 104 OPS+. He is some approximation of an average hitter, and when you include the fact that he’s pretty poor in the field, the overall package - at 100 percent - is mediocre.

So if you’re looking for a storyline today, watch out for Cruz. The Rangers will simply be looking for a win.

Young’s injury occurred on Thursday night in New York, so he’s had three whole days to get better. Not only is he playing, but playing left field and batting third. Jim Leyland is a smart manager and I can’t imagine him doing this if he didn’t think Young could handle it.

We’ll find out when this lineup faces Derek Holland Monday afternoon.

The rain never came on Sunday night, but the mere threat of a precipitation left the Texas Rangers and Detroit Tigers on the shelf, with Game 2 delayed until Monday. In the middle of the afternoon, Major League Baseball checked the forecast and decided to put off Game 2 in an effort to avoid a repeat of Saturday’s rain-infused debacle. But as the window where the game would’ve been played arrive, Arlington was dry, and continued to be throughout the evening.

Understandably, Rangers’ fans are a bit unhappy about the decision to postpone Game 2 early in the afternoon, before a clear picture of the weather came through. Here’s Lonestar Ball on the decision:

There’s no denying Game 1 of the ALCS was an absolute mess. Two rain delays disrupted the flow of the game, threw off the pitching rotations and left everyone in limbo as both teams waited for the skies to clear. It wasn’t the way to begin a League Championship Series.

Faced with the threat of rain on Sunday around game-time, Bud Selig, along with a host of others, decided it wasn’t worth it to risk another messy game. Instead, the decision was made to postpone Game 2, putting it off until Monday, the scheduled travel day. Sensible enough.

That headline would have been a big deal in 2006. Now? Not so much, though it should be noted that with Delmon Young out, the Tigers are running low on outfielders. Magglio Ordonez suffered an ankle injury, and according to Danny Knobler:

Tigers lose Magglio for rest of postseason. Ankle.Ordonez hasn’t had a great year, but with Brennan Boesch and Young both out, there aren’t a lot of outfield options now, especially against left-handed pitchers. The injury leaves Andy Dirks, Ryan Rayburn, and Don Kelly as the active outfielders on the roster other than Austin Jackson. Picking two corner outfielders from that group is painful.

Last night’s Game 1 of the ALCS was delayed twice by rain, and the worst part is that once the game resumed, we had no idea who killed that poor woman on Law & Order. Was it the blue-blood ex-boyfriend? Was it the other ex-boyfriend? WHO WAS IT?

But the game went on despite the multiple delays. Today, the powers-that-be didn’t even want to mess with nature.

Game Date/Time: Sunday, Oct. 9, 7:45 p.m.

Stadium: Rangers Ballpark in Arlington, Artlington, Texas