Cycling Back To Arlington

Young, right, celebrates after his second home
run of the game that completed a team inning
cycle.

Just when it looked like the Detroit Tigers' season was on the brink of ending with their ace on the mound, a 99 mph fastball saved their season.

Justin Verlander pumped his fist after inducing a groundball double-play off the broken bat of Texas Rangers second baseman Ian Kinsler, escaping a one out base loaded jam in the sixth.

With the game still tied at two and inspired by Verlander's work in the top of the inning, Detroit's potent offense roared to life in the home half, that is with a little bit of luck.

Utility man Ryan Raburn, who has been filling in for the injured Magglio Ordonez, greeted Texas Rangers starter C.J. Wilson with a hard led off single to left followed by what would have normally been a routine 5-4-3 double-play, but for the first time in the series, the Tigers got the ball to bounce their way. Miguel Cabrera's ground ball hit the third base bag, shooting up and out of the reach of the Rangers' Adrian Beltre and down the left field line.

Cabrera cruised into second with an RBI double, seizing the lead back for the Tigers, 3-2.

Victor Martinez, much like he has all season for Detroit, delivered again with a triple into the right corner, scoring Cabrera. Following Martinez, Delmon Young answered the bell, blasting his second home run of the game and fifth of the postseason.

The Tigers had hit of the cycle in the inning, making that the first time it had been done in postseason history. If that weren't impressive enough, Detroit did it with with four consecutive hitters while hitting for the cycle the "natural" way.

Wilson escaped the inning alive, but the damage had already been done.

On the other side, Verlander trotted back out for his seventh inning of work, having a shut down inning, producing his first perfect 1-2-3 inning since the second and emphatically yelling, "It's about f-ing time".

Raburn added an insurance run in the bottom of the inning with a home run off Koji Uehara, increasing the lead to 7-2. Boy did they never need it. Nelson Cruz continued his unbelievable ALCS, hitting his fifth home run of the series and his second home run off Verlander in the series. This time a two-run shot, cutting into the Tigers' lead, 7-4.

Cruz is only the fifth player in major league history to have five homes in a postseason series, and the first to do so in a LCS. Surprisingly, Cruz had never hit five home runs over a a five game game span in his career, until now.

Manager Jim Leyland called upon left-hander Phil Coke to finish the game with the unavailability of set-up man Joaquin Benoit and closer Jose Valverde. Leyland made it clear prior to Game 5 that both Benoit and Valverde were not made available to pitch after extended work the last couple of games. The 66-year-old manager said he'd hope to get through the game using just Verlander and Coke and that's exactly what he did.

Despite the game becoming dicey with two outs in the ninth, Coke got the game's final five outs, sending the series back to Arlington for a Game 6 Saturday.

Bur the Rangers find themselves in a familiar spot. Last season Texas held a 3-1 series lead against the then-defending World Series champion New York Yankees. New York also won Game 5, only to have the Rangers close out the series at home in Game 6.

Verlander hasn't been sharp this postseason,
 but fought his way through Game 5.

Only 10 teams in major league history have overcome a 3-1 series deficit to win a best-of-seven series, most recently the Boston Red Sox, who did it in the 2004 and 2007 ALCS against the New York Yankees and Cleveland Indians respectively.

With their backs against the wall, Detroit will need to defy the odds once again like they have all season long.

Cruz-ing Into Detroit

Cruz's power bodes well in the Texas lineup
and ballpark.

There have already been so many of firsts this baseball season and Monday's Game 2 of the ALCS proved to be no different.

Texas Rangers outfielder Nelson Cruz continued to find his stroke this postseason after struggling mightily in Texas' first-round matchup against the Tampa Bay Rays.

Cruz, who homered in Game 1 against the Detroit Tigers, hit a pair of home runs, both coming in most crucial moments of the game.

With the Rangers trailing 3-2 after six and a half innings, Tigers manager Jim Leyland elected to have his starting pitcher, Max Scherzer, to return for the bottom of the seventh and pitch to Cruz. With left-hander Phil Coke warming in the Detroit bullpen and lefties David Murphy and Mitch Moreland to follow, it looked as if that would be the only batter Scherzer would face, no matter the result.

If all went according to plan, Leyland could have Coke finish the seventh and then summon set-up man Joaquin Benoit and closer Jose Valverde from the 'pen, for the eighth and ninth, to seal the win. It didn't.

On Scherzer's 91st pitch of the night, Cruz hammered a 1-2 fastball up in the zone and deposited it into the left field seats for a game-tying home run.

But it would be Cruz's second home of the night that would make postseason history.

After three scoreless innings from both the Detroit and Texas bullpen, innings that included both closers walking a tightrope and escaping ninth inning bases-loaded jams, Game 2 headed to the eleventh, setting the stage for a postseason first.

Texas set-up man Mike Adams struck out the first two batters of the inning, but surrendered a two-out single to the versatile only to have 2011 AL batting champion, Miguel Cabrera, fly out to center field to end the inning.

The Rangers quickly jumped on Tigers reliever Ryan Perry with three consecutive singles to start the home half of the inning, loading the bases with nobody out for the second time in the game. The first time Detroit was fortunate enough to allude any damage, this time would be much different.

Cruz, who had been dropped all the way to seventh in the order due to his recent struggles, came to the plate with a chance to be a hero. Someone who relishes in the moment, the 31-year-old slugger blasted his second home run of the game for a walk-off grand slam, giving the Rangers a 7-3 win and a 2-0 LCS series lead.

There have been 42 walk-off home runs in postseason history, but Cruz's walk-off grand slam was the first of it's variety, adding another accomplishment to his impressive postseason resume.

Technically it should have been the second in postseason history after newly hired Chicago White Sox manager Robin Ventura hit a walk-off home run with the bases-loaded in Game 5 of the 1999 NLCS as a member of the New York Mets to beat the Atlanta Braves, but was mobbed by teammates before he could reach home plate turning a grand slam into what we know today as a "grand slam single".

In last years postseason, Cruz hit .317 with 6 home runs, 11 RBIs and 13 extra-base hits. That is why his struggles in the ALDS, where he batted .067, came as such a shock.

An All-Star in 2009, Cruz is rapidly turning into one of the best big game performers in the majors, but injuries have halted him from becoming one of the games brightest young stars. The Monte Cristi native has taken five trips to the disabled list over the last two seasons, mainly due to hamstring issues. He has averaged only 120 games over the last three seasons with the Rangers, playing only 108 in 2010.

Texas will need to find a way to keep him healthy and his bat hot if they are repeat as American League Champions and return to the World Series.