Tigers avoid elimination
October 14, 2011 13:59:33 UK
Justin Verlander (1-1) struck out eight as the Detroit Tigers beat the Texas Rangers 7-5 to force Game Six of the ALCS.
The presumptive American League Cy Young Award winner gave up four runs on eight hits and three walks while striking out eight over 7 1-3 innings and Phil Coke recorded the final five outs to pick up the save, with Jose Valverde unavailable after the previous evening's effort.
Delmon Young homered twice off of Texas starter C.J. Wilson (0-1) as part of a 2-for-3 afternoon and Alex Avila and Ryan Raburn also went deep to help pace the Detroit attack.
Nelson Cruz was again the star for the Rangers as the outfielder hit his fifth home run of the series, this time a two-run shot that chased Verlander in the eighth inning.
Wilson went the first six innings for Texas conceding six runs on eight hits and two walks while striking out five.
The Tigers are 2.45 to win at the Rangers on Sunday to force a deciding game in the series, while Texas are 1.62 to wrap up the series on home turf.
Don't forget, you can earn up to 50% more on your MLB pre-game parlays with bet365's fantastic 50% Parlay Bonus.
View all Baseball lines