The Rangers withstood an extended Tigers rally in the fifth inning, as well as a pair of long rain delays in the same innings, and defeated Detroit 3-2 to take a 1-0 lead in the ALCS.
Because of the rain, Tigers ace Justin Verlander only went four innings. In those four innings, he allowed three runs on five hits, two walks, a homer, and five strikeouts. The big story during Verlander’s outing was the apparent squeezing of the strike zone by home plate ump Tim Welke. Looking at the strike zone map for Verlander, you can see that there were no less than nine pitches that touched the strike zone that were called balls. Most of the damage done to Verlander came in the second inning, where he allowed hits to Mike Napoli and David Murphy on two strike pitches. Ian Kinsler’s RBI single came on a 2-0 count. Verlander also allowed a homer to Nelson Cruz in the fourth.
CJ Wilson of the Rangers struggled, and didn’t get a win after not coming out after the second rain delay concluded. The squeeze was on Wilson too, as he had seven pitches in the strike zone called balls. Wilson would walk five in his 4 2/3 innings, allowing just a pair of runs on six hits and logging six strikeouts. The Tigers put 11 men on base against Wilson, and only got two runs….that is really not good. Wilson got out of jams in the first and third innings with double plays before the fifth came along, where he allowed his pair of runs. He’d leave the game with the bases loaded and two outs, but Mike Gonzalez got Alex Avila to ground out to end the threat. After the starters left, both bullpens threw scoreless ball for the duration of the game.
Tomorrow’s game will take place again at 7:45, and the pitching matchup will be Max Scherzer and Derek Holland before heading to Detroit.
