Rangers breathe easier with 7-3 victory over Tigers

Reporting from Detroit — Nolan Ryan threw seven no-hitters and racked up a major league-high 5,714 strikeouts during his distinguished 27-year, Hall-of-Fame career, but nothing, it seems, is more nerve-wracking than watching his Texas Rangers in the playoffs.

Several times this month, television cameras have caught the Rangers’ CEO and president in his seat near the dugout gripping a baseball so tight it looks like he could squeeze the cover off of it.

“It’s hard being a fan,” Ryan said. “I compare it to the Texas Giant roller-coaster at Six Flags [in Arlington, Texas]. Your emotions can go from the top to the bottom, from high to low, real quick at times.”

The Rangers took Ryan and their fans for another white-knuckle ride Wednesday night, falling behind early, going ahead in the sixth inning, losing the lead in the seventh, pulling off a near-impossible double play in the eighth and going into extra innings.

It wasn’t until the 11th inning that Ryan finally exhaled, Nelson Cruz capping a four-run rally with a three-run home run that gave the Rangers a 7-3 win over the Detroit Tigers in Game 3 of the American League championship series in Comerica Park.

Josh Hamilton sparked the rally off Tigers closer Jose Valverde with a leadoff double, and after Adrian Beltre was walked intentionally with one out, Mike Napoli, the former Angels catcher, knocked in the go-ahead run with a single to center.

Cruz then hit his fourth homer of the ALCS, a towering shot to left-center field, to give Texas a commanding 3-1 lead in the best-of-seven series. Detroit will turn to ace Justin Verlander in its attempt to stave off elimination in Game 5 Thursday.

There was a big emotional swing Wednesday in the bottom of the eighth, after Texas Manager Ron Washington, tired of seeing Miguel Cabrera repeatedly burn his team with big hits, took the extreme measure of walking Cabrera intentionally with one out and the bases empty with the score tied, 3-3.

Victor Martinez foiled that strategy by grounding a single to right field off reliever Mike Adams, advancing Cabrera to third. Delmon Young followed with a fly to deep right field, where Cruz made the catch near the line.

Cruz then showed he is far more than a one-dimensional player, making a strong one-hop throw home to Napoli, who had enough time to catch the ball and brace himself for a collision with the 270-pound Cabrera.

Napoli made the tag and absorbed the blow from Cabrera, which would have been worse if the Tigers first baseman had even decent speed, and the inning was over.

Napoli, who never seemed good enough defensively to satisfy Angels Manager Mike Scioscia, was on the throwing end of another fine play in the 10th, gunning down the speedy Austin Jackson on a stolen-base attempt at second. When reliever Scott Feldman struck out Ryan Raburn to end the inning, Cabrera was left in the on-deck circle.

The Tigers tied the game, 3-3, on a stunning home run by No. 9 hitter Brandon Inge off previously impenetrable reliever Alexi Ogando in the bottom of the seventh.

With two outs and an 0-and-2 count, Ogando, who had allowed one hit in 5 1/3 scoreless ALCS innings, tried to blow a fastball by Inge, the third baseman who struggled so much in 2011 (.197, three homers, 23 RBIs) he was designated for assignment on July 21. No team claimed Inge, who accepted an assignment to triple-A Toledo on July 26 and returned to Detroit on Aug. 20, but Inge showed he had plenty left by driving Ogando’s pitch over the left-field wall, as a crowd of 42,234 erupted.

It was the first time in Ogando’s two-year big-league career he’s given up a home run on an 0-2 count.

Detroit starter Rick Porcello breezed through five innings, blanking the Rangers on two hits, striking out five of the first nine batters. The right-hander took a 2-0 lead into the sixth, thanks to a pair of singles by Inge and Raburn and Cabrera’s two-out, two-run double off the left-center field wall off Rangers starter Matt Harrison in the third.

But the game unraveled quickly for Porcello in the sixth, an inning that David Murphy started with a single to left-center. Yorvit Torrealba popped out to second, and Ian Kinsler doubled into the left-field corner to score Murphy to make it 2-1.

Kinsler stole third and scored on Elvis Andrus’ single to right-center for a 2-2 tie. Andrus took second on Porcello’s wild pick-off attempt, an error that allowed Andrus to score the go-ahead run on Michael Young’s two-out single to center, the first RBI of the post-season for the Rangers utility player.