The Detroit Tigers jumped out to a 5 run lead in the fifth game of the American League Championship Series but needed some luck in the later innings to escape a powerful Texas Rangers team to send the series back to Texas down by a game 3-2.
In the ninth inning the Rangers cut the score to 7-5 and had Nelson Cruz, who previously in the game set the record with five home runs in the series, on deck and two men on base. A ground-out by Mike Napoli ended the threat to and earned pitcher Phil Coke his first postseason save of his career.
In the top of the sixth inning with the game tied at 2 the Tigers turned a double play with the bases loaded to escape a threat. In the bottom of the sixth the first four batters combined to hit for the cycle, in order. That pushed the lead to 6-2 and is the first instance of a "natural" cycle in a postseason game.
Detroit manager Jim Leyland said before the game that heavily used pitchers Jose Valverde and Joaquin Benoit would not be available for the game. The ideal situation played out when Justin Verlander and Coke were the only pitcher the Tigers needed to complete the game. Verlander showed high velocity late in the game, hitting 100 mph on his 133rd pitch of the game.
