| Scoreboard | ||||||||||||
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
| Detroit (61-53) | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 1 |
| Texas (66-46) « | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 8 | 0 |
ARLINGTON, Texas -- Rookie Mike Olt's pinch-hit RBI single with two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning scored Nelson Cruz with the winning run in the Texas Rangers' 2-1 victory over the Detroit Tigers on Saturday night.
Olt drove a 2-2 pitch from Phil Coke past diving third baseman Miguel Cabrera and into left field. Cruz easily beat the throw home.
| More on Tigers-Rangers |
| Related links |
| More MLB coverage |
Cruz and Michael Young each drew four-pitch walks from Brayan Villarreal (3-3) in the bottom half. Coke relieved and got two outs before Olt delivered the winning hit.
Olt, called up from Double-A Frisco on Aug. 1, was mobbed by his teammates near first base. The Rangers remained 5 1-2 games ahead of Oakland in the AL West.
Austin Jackson led off the game with a home run for the Tigers, who remained one game behind the Chicago White Sox in the AL Central.
Mike Adams (2-3) escaped a bases-loaded, one-out jam in the top of the ninth to earn the victory.
Cabrera was forced out at home on Brennan Boesch's slow grounder to first, and Jhonny Peralta lined out to center to end Detroit's threat.
Texas left-hander Derek Holland matched Detroit ace Justin Verlander in a rematch of last season's ALCS.
Holland tied a season high with nine strikeouts in 7 2-3 innings. The left-hander allowed three hits and walked one.
Holland was 1-2 with a 7.00 ERA over his previous four starts. He got off to a rocky start when Jackson homered on the fourth pitch of the game and Omar Infante followed with a single.
After that, Holland allowed only a walk to Cabrera in the fourth and Peralta's single in the fifth.
Verlander allowed seven hits and one run in seven innings. The reigning AL MVP struck out eight in a 118-pitch outing.
Verlander, who retired the final 10 batters he faced, leads the majors with 174 strikeouts.
Jackson homered on a 1-2 pitch leading off the game. It was Jackson's ninth career leadoff shot and fifth this season.
The Rangers had three consecutive singles with two outs in the third. Cruz's broken bat RBI hit capped the rally and tied the game at 1.
Notes
The Rangers celebrated their 40th anniversary in Texas by honoring their all-time team and inducting radio broadcaster Eric Nadel into the team's Hall of Fame in a pregame ceremony. Both teams wore their 1976 uniforms as part of the celebration.. Detroit's Rick Porcello (9-6) will face Texas rookie Yu Darvish (11-8) in the series finale Sunday.. Texas RHP Koji Uehara, who has been on the disabled list since June 10 with a right lat strain, will throw a bullpen session on Sunday.
|
| Rangers manager Ron Washington congratulates Mike Olt, who was called up from Double-A on Aug. 1, on his game winner. (Getty Images) |
| Players of the Game |
|
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Majestic Yu Darvish Rangers #11 Replica Baseball Jersey - Shop Now!
| Detroit Tigers | ||||||||
| Hitters | AB | R | H | RBI | BB | SO | LOB | AVG |
| Austin Jackson, CF | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | .319 |
| Omar Infante, 2B | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .288 |
| Miguel Cabrera, 3B | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | .322 |
| Prince Fielder, 1B | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | .311 |
| Delmon Young, DH | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | .266 |
| Jeff Baker, RF | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | .271 |
| a- Brennan Boesch, PH-RF | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | .252 |
| Jhonny Peralta, SS | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | .260 |
| Andy Dirks, LF | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | .338 |
| Gerald Laird, C | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | .291 |
| Totals | 31 | 1 | 5 | 1 | 3 | 9 | ||
| a-hit into fielder's choice for Baker in the 9th | ||||||||
| Batting | ||||||||
| HR - Austin Jackson (13, Holland) | ||||||||
| RBI - Austin Jackson (52) | ||||||||
| Team LOB - 6 | ||||||||
| Fielding | ||||||||
| DP - Cabrera-Infante-Fielder, Cabrera-Infante-Fielder | ||||||||
| E - Miguel Cabrera (10, Misplayed grounder) | ||||||||
| Detroit Tigers | ||||||||
| Pitchers | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | HR | ERA |
| Justin Verlander | 7 | 7 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 2.46 |
| Brayan Villarreal (L,3-3) | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1.95 |
| Phil Coke | 0.2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3.91 |
| Pitches-Strikes - Justin Verlander 118-86, Brayan Villarreal 17-4, Phil Coke 21-14 | ||||||||
| Ground Balls-Fly Balls - Justin Verlander 6-7, Brayan Villarreal 1-1 | ||||||||
| Batters Faced - Justin Verlander 28, Brayan Villarreal 5, Phil Coke 3 | ||||||||
| Texas Rangers | ||||||||
| Hitters | AB | R | H | RBI | BB | SO | LOB | AVG |
| Ian Kinsler, DH | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | .275 |
| Elvis Andrus, SS | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | .296 |
| Josh Hamilton, CF | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | .288 |
| Adrian Beltre, 3B | 4 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | .304 |
| Nelson Cruz, RF | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | .268 |
| Michael Young, 2B | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | .273 |
| David Murphy, LF | 3 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .299 |
| a- Craig Gentry, PH | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | .324 |
| Geovany Soto, C | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 4 | .197 |
| Mitch Moreland, 1B | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | .286 |
| b- Mike Olt, PH | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .300 |
| Totals | 33 | 2 | 8 | 2 | 3 | 9 | ||
| a-flied out for Murphy in the 9th | ||||||||
| b-singled for Moreland in the 9th | ||||||||
| Batting | ||||||||
| RBI - Nelson Cruz (69), Mike Olt (4) | ||||||||
| 2-OUT RBI - Nelson Cruz (34), Mike Olt (2) | ||||||||
| Team LOB - 8 | ||||||||
| Fielding | ||||||||
| DP - Moreland-Andrus | ||||||||
| Texas Rangers | ||||||||
| Pitchers | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | HR | ERA |
| Derek Holland | 7.2 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 9 | 1 | 4.92 |
| Alexi Ogando | 0.2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2.63 |
| Robbie Ross | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1.82 |
| Mike Adams (W,2-3) | 0.2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2.92 |
| WP - Derek Holland (1) | ||||||||
| Pitches-Strikes - Derek Holland 102-65, Alexi Ogando 18-12, Robbie Ross 9-4, Mike Adams 8-7 | ||||||||
| Ground Balls-Fly Balls - Derek Holland 8-5, Alexi Ogando 2-0, Mike Adams 1-1 | ||||||||
| Batters Faced - Derek Holland 26, Alexi Ogando 4, Robbie Ross 1, Mike Adams 3 | ||||||||
| Game Information |
| Attendance - 48303 |
| Game Time - 3:08 |
| Temperature - 96 |
| Umpires - Home - Gary Cederstrom, First Base - Lance Barksdale, Second Base - Adrian Johnson, Third Base - Field Culbreth |
| Other Games | |||||||||||||||||
|
|
| |||||||||||||||
|
|
| |||||||||||||||
|
|
| |||||||||||||||
|
|
| |||||||||||||||
|
| ||||||||||||||||