The Texas Rangers fought off Mother Nature as well as Justin Verlander and the Detroit Tigers to take game one of the American League Championship Series. Texas was able to jump out early on the Tigers and lean on their pen to preserve their 3-2 victory.
From the first batter he faced, you could tell that Verlander didn’t have his best stuff Saturday night. The Cy Young favorite walked a pair of batters in the game’s opening frame, but was able to escape the jam without surrendering a run.
But the Rangers would again challenge Verlander in the 2nd, and the right-hander wasn’t able to escape this second challenge unscathed. Daniel Murphy drove in Texas’s first run with his triple to deep right field and later come around to score on Ian Kinsler’s RBI single.
Nelson Cruz capped off Verlander’s night in the 4th with his solo shot to left. Facing another rain shortened game one, Verlander was forced to leave the contest after only four frames.
As the rain began to fall in the 5th, the Tigers began mustering a comeback attempt. Detroit reduced their deficit to one as Austin Jackson contributed an RBI double and eventually would score on C.J. Wilson’s wild pitch.
The weather removed both game one starters early, but the bullpens were more than capable of handling the finish. Unfortunately for Detroit, they were trailing when the baton was passed to the relievers.
The Tigers and Rangers pens combined to log 8.1 scoreless innings, surrendering only two hits and a walk while striking out 10 batters. Rick Porcello followed Verlander with two innings of work to help bridge the gap, and regular season starter Alexi Ogando did the same for the Rangers after Wilson exited.
Darren Oliver and Mike Adams combined to log a perfect 8th before Neftali Feliz shut the door in the 9th, securing the Rangers game one victory.
The clubs will remain in Arlington for game two of the ALCS, which features starting pitchers Max Scherzer and Derek Holland.
For more on the Tigers and Rangers, be sure to check out Motor City Bengals and Nolan Writin’.