Extra, extra! Nelson Cruz hits another dramatic HR for Rangers

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Updated: January 23, 2012 2:55AM

DETROIT — The Texas tag team of Nelson Cruz and Mike Napoli was too much for the Detroit Tigers.

Cruz made a rocket throw to keep the score tied, then hit a crushing three-run home run in the 11th inning off Jose Valverde that helped send the Rangers over the Tigers 7-3 Wednesday night for a 3-1 lead in the AL Championship Series. Napoli had put Texas ahead with an RBI single earlier in the 11th.

Cruz, whose grand slam in the 11th inning won Game 2, once again starred for the Rangers in a game delayed at the start for more than two hours by rain.

With Detroit runners at the corners in the eighth and the score 3-3, Cruz caught Delmon Young’s fly to right field and made a strong peg to Napoli, the catcher, to nail Miguel Cabrera.

“For you guys that haven’t seen Nelson every day, he’s capable of doing exactly what he’s doing,” Rangers manager Ron Washington said. “We’ve been waiting for it for a long time, and as I always say, I don’t judge Nelson just because he hits balls out of the ballpark. He’s a complete player. He takes pride in every part of the game.”

Napoli blooped a go-ahead single in the 11th, and Cruz soon added his fourth home run of the ALCS. Cruz became the first player in major-league history to hit two extra-inning homers in the same postseason series.

Texas tries for its second consecutive AL pennant on Thursday, sending C.J. Wilson to the mound to face Tigers ace Justin Verlander.

The ALCS has marked quite a turnaround for Cruz. After going 1-for-15 in the first-round playoff win over Tampa Bay, he’s 5-for-14 with nine RBI in only four games against the Tigers — and seven of those RBI have come in the 11th inning alone.

Brandon Inge hit a solo homer in the seventh that tied it. The Tigers wasted a terrific chance an inning later after some risky Texas strategy.

With one out and nobody on, the Rangers intentionally walked Cabrera, practically daring the rest of the struggling Detroit lineup to beat them. The AL batting champion hit a two-run double earlier in the game, in fact.

“First time shame on you, next time shame on me,” Washington said.

Victor Martinez, who hurt his ribcage on a home-run swing in Game 3, followed with a single to right, and Cabrera lumbered around to third.

“I respect Martinez a heck of a lot,” Washington said. “Once again, he got that base hit, and we almost paid for it, but I certainly wasn’t going to let [Cabrera] have a swing of the bat there and beat us.”

Young, another Tigers starter who has been banged up lately, managed to lift the ball to medium right. Cruz caught it and made a perfect one-hop throw to the plate that beat Cabrera by several feet.

AP