Nelson Cruz hit a walk off grand slam to give the Texas Rangers a 7-3 win over the Detroit Tigers and a 2-0 lead in thebest-of-seven American League Championship Series. Detroit escaped a bases loaded, nobody out situation in the ninth inning but weren't as fortunate in the 11th.
The Rangers grabbed an early 2-0 lead in the first against Detroit starter Max Scherzer thanks to a couple of RBI doubles from Josh Hamilton and Adrian Beltre. Detroit broke through in the third, grabbing the lead on a three-run homer by Ryan Raburn.
The score would remain 3-2 until the bottom half of the 7th when Nelson Cruz hit the first of his two homers to tie the game at 3-3. Texas looked like they were going to grab a win in the ninth when they loaded the bases with no one out. Detroit closer Jose Valverde got Daniel Murphy to fly out for the first out and then induced a 3-2-3 double play out of Texas first baseman Mitch Moreland.
Neither team would threaten until the Rangers came to bat in the 11th. Michael Young, Adrian Beltre and Mike Napoli all singled to load the bases and set the table for Cruz who then launched the game-winning hit into the left field stands.
Rangers' reliever Mike Adams earned the victory with a scoreless inning of relief work while Detroit's Ryan Perry takes the loss. Perry failed to retire anyone in the 11th inning.