Tigers Take Game Three of ALCS, 5-2; Texas Leads, Two Games to One

Players of the Day for Tuesday, October 11, 2011


American League

Tigers 5 Rangers 2

Miguel Cabrera homered, doubled and drove in two runs to back the pitching of Doug Fister and get Detroit their first win in the ALCS over the Texas Rangers.

Doug Fister

Miguel Cabrera

With the series in Detroit for games three, four and five, the Tigers have the opportunity to not only even the series but also to eliminate the Rangers' home field advantage, if they sweep the home games. They got off to a good start on Tuesday with a needed win. A loss would have put them down three games to none and essentially guaranteed the series to the Rangers.

Fister, who gave up hits to the first three Texas batters he faced, worked out of a jam in the first inning, getting a double play off the bat of Michael Young, then striking out Adrian Beltre to end the inning with only one run allowed. Victor Martinez evened things up at 1-all with a leadoff homer in the Tigers' 4th. Cabrera doubled home a run in the 5th inning, and, after the Tigers scored two more in the 6th, adding the finishing touch with a leadoff homer in the 7th.

Meanwhile, Fister was mowing down Rangers with inside pitches and jam shots. The 6'8" right-hander struck out three, didn't issue a walk and allowed just two runs on seven hits over 7 1/3 innings. Fister, acquired before the trade deadline from Seattle - where he was 3-12 - went 8-1 swn the stretch for Detroit and has two post-season wins to boot.

The series resumes on Wednesday afternoon, at 4:19 in Detroit. Matt Harrison faces the Tigers' Rick Porcello. Both starters were 14-9 during the regular season.

National League

The Brewers and Cardinals took Tuesday off as the NLCS heads to St. Louis for games three, four and five. Start time for game three is 8:05 pm EDT. A pair of aces - Yovani Gallardo for the Brewers and Chris Carpenter for the Cardinals - face off in a crucial test as the series is tied at a game apiece.