12/21/24
October 13, 2011
Rangers Cruz to Game 4 Win Over Tigers: After catcher Mike Napoli hit an RBI single, outfielder Nelson Cruz hit a three-run homer in the eleventh inning, helping the Texas Rangers win 7-3 over the Detroit Tigers and take a 3-1 lead in the American League Championship Series. The game might not have reached extra innings without Cruz's arm and Napoli's defense. In the eighth, he threw out Miguel Cabrera on a sacrifice fly, hitting Napoli with a perfect one-hop throw. Mitch Albom of the Detroit Free Press credits the Rangers win to small ball. "A single. A double down the line. A stolen base. A single. A misfired pickoff attempt. A single," he writes. "This was a perfect example of the kind of baseball Texas can play and the Tigers can't. Detroit simply doesn't have the speed."
I'm going to have nightmares about Nelson Cruz.
posted by Ying Yang Mafia at 09:47 AM on October 13, 2011
There has to be a way to measure Cruz's clutchiness (clutchitude, perhaps?).
posted by bperk at 10:26 AM on October 13, 2011
Do not pitch to Nelson Cruz in the 11th inning. Bad things will happen.
Talk about a late bloomer. Any team could have picked him up on waivers in 2008 after he was designated for assignment by the Rangers with no minor league options left.
posted by holden at 10:47 AM on October 13, 2011
I know that Cruz had some not so great moments earlier in the season, but right now, he's in a destructo zone like the one Dykstra was in during the 1993 playoffs.
And the one Bonds was in during the Giants 2002 run.
posted by beaverboard at 11:16 AM on October 13, 2011
He was fantastic last year too.
posted by Ying Yang Mafia at 12:05 PM on October 13, 2011
Oh, I see...rcade only posts ALCS threads when the Rangers win...
posted by MeatSaber at 07:36 PM on October 13, 2011
Obligatory you could post a thread here.
posted by Ying Yang Mafia at 10:35 PM on October 13, 2011
I know, just taking a little jab, is all.
posted by MeatSaber at 11:51 PM on October 13, 2011
Same here, same here. I wasn't able to watch Game 5, but I wasn't the least bit surprised to find out Nelson Cruz hit another home run. With any luck he'll run into the same problems Leo Nunez did in the next day or two.
posted by Ying Yang Mafia at 12:44 AM on October 14, 2011
At the time you taunted me, I didn't even know the result yet. I had to pause the game.
posted by rcade at 09:47 AM on October 14, 2011
I was actually speaking about the fact that you had put up threads after games 1, 2 and 4, but not game 3. I don't think game 5 was over yet when I posted. But I saw you put up a game 5 thread today, so I'll quit bustin yer chops...
posted by MeatSaber at 07:54 PM on October 14, 2011
I mean this in the nicest way possible: When your grandmom mows your lawn, do you tell her she shoulda done it sooner because the neighbors were complaining?
posted by rcade at 10:33 AM on October 15, 2011
I thought it was an enormous mistake for Ron Washington to have Miguel Cabrera intentionally walked to start the eighth inning. It worked out because of Cruz's incredible throw, but putting a man on first with Martinez and Delmon Young coming up is too risky.