ALCS GM 4 - GDT: 10/12/11 - DET (1-2) VS TEX (2-1) - 4:19 p.m. 
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VS ---
Detroit Tigers VS Texas RangersWednesday, October 12
Comerica Park, Detroit MI
Game Time - 4:19 p.m. EDT 
REMEMBERING SPARKYThe Tigers are wearing a patch on their right
sleeves this season in the shape of a home
plate emblazoned with the name SPARKY, to
honor Hall of Fame manager Sparky
Anderson who passed away on November 4,
2010. Anderson’s number 11 was retired
in a pre-game ceremony on June 26.
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Preview Tigers look to hold onto momentum in Game 4By Bryan Hoch / MLB.com | 10/12/2011 1:00 AM ET
DETROIT -- It turns out that maybe all the Tigers needed to get off the mat in the American League Championship Series was a little bit of home cooking. Oh, and getting some timely hits didn't hurt.
By trimming their series deficit to 2-1 in the best-of-seven matchup with a 5-2 victory over Rangers in Game 3 on Tuesday, Detroit isn't out of the woods yet, but the Tigers have to like their chances a little bit better.
Rick Porcello gets the ball in Wednesday's Game 4, but perhaps most importantly, they've guaranteed that 24-game winner Justin Verlander will have his shot to send the series back down to Texas after Game 5.
"We've got to go out there and do our jobs," said Detroit's Miguel Cabrera, who came alive with a homer and an RBI double in Tuesday's Game 3. "We've got to go out there, play hard, and try to even the series. If we play good at home, hopefully we win."
Rangers manager Ron Washington now looks prescient having said, despite edging Detroit in the first two contests of the ALCS, that "it probably will be a long series."
Texas has outscored the Tigers, 12-7, in the three games, but four of those runs came on Nelson Cruz's game-winning grand slam in Game 2. If you subtract those, the series looks even tighter.
Sending lefty Matt Harrison to the mound on Wednesday, the Rangers promise their focus is on hitting Porcello and not the looming shadow of Verlander, who will be rested and ready after his Game 1 loss in Arlington.
"We're worried about [Wednesday]," Texas' Mike Napoli said. "We're not worried about when Verlander's pitching or what's going on. They're all tough, they've got a great pitching staff, so we're going to think about [Wednesday]. We're going to go after Porcello, and try to get to him."
Porcello, 22, is coming back after throwing 22 pitches of scoreless, hitless relief in Game 1. A 14-game winner this year, he came up on the losing end of Game 4 in the AL Division Series to A.J. Burnett and the Yankees, his only other postseason start.
Porcello beat the Rangers on June 7 in Arlington in his only start against them this year, and he paid their batting order a huge compliment when asked to compare it to New York's vaunted collection of sluggers.
"I think the Rangers' lineup is a little bit deeper," Porcello said. "One through nine, they have guys that can hurt you. You really have to be on your game."
The heart of that Rangers' lineup went ice cold in Game 3, as Michael Young, Adrian Beltre, Napoli and Cruz combined for 15 hitless at-bats. Backup catcher Yorvit Torrealba had three of the Rangers' eight hits.
It remains to be seen how long Washington will stick with Young, who is 1-for-12 in the ALCS and 3-for-27 in the postseason, but he didn't sound like he was in the mood to make any changes.
"Michael struggled before," Washington said. "I don't think there's a baseball player playing the game that hasn't struggled. No, I'm not concerned. Michael will figure it out."
On the flip side, Harrison was also a 14-game winner in the regular season, but he hasn't worked since his victory in the Rangers' ALDS-clinching Game 4 against the Rays at Tropicana Field, tossing two sides in between.
Harrison lost both of his starts against the Tigers this year, on June 7 and Aug. 3.
"I think you just have to be aggressive against these guys," Harrison said. "Try to limit the mistakes, keep the balls in the corners. The biggest thing is being aggressive and not walking guys."
It's a Detroit order that has sprung to life, even notching a run off a Rangers bullpen -- Cabrera homering off Koji Uehara -- that had whipped 12 2/3 scoreless innings coming into Game 3.
Maybe the training staff should get bonus credit. They loom over a bruised and battered clubhouse that has already lost Magglio Ordonez, sees Delmon Young as questionable and now has Victor Martinez ailing.
Guarding his right intercostal strain, Martinez landed a money quote when he offered to the reporters in Detroit's clubhouse, "The only way I don't play tomorrow is if I wake up and I'm dead."
It sounds like the Rangers have a similar situation on their hands with Beltre, who fouled a ball off his left knee in the fourth inning of Game 3 and departed Comerica Park straddling an ice pack.
"It hurt pretty good. After a couple innings, it got a little bit better," Beltre said. "I'll try to keep [the swelling] down and get ready for [Wednesday]."
That's an attitude that the Tigers can appreciate. Utility man Don Kelly said the team's mission right now is to "keep grinding," and Cabrera said it's nothing they haven't been through before.
"The last couple of years, we've come into a lot of injuries here," Cabrera said. "We know how to get out of it. We can't think about that. We've got to go out there and play hard; hopefully nobody gets hurt again."
Tigers: RHP Rick Porcello (0-0, 0.00 ERA)Porcello's two perfect innings in Game 1 raise hope that he can hold down the dangerous Rangers lineup in what could be a pivotal game in the series. He pitched six innings of one-run ball to beat the Rangers in Texas June 7.
Rangers: LHP Matt Harrison (0-0, 0.00 ERA)Harrison will make his third career postseason appearance (second start) after being left off the playoff roster in 2010. In two starts against Detroit this season, Harrison was 0-2 with a 6.30 ERA over 10 innings.
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Tiger's MLB Game Notes
Game InformationINJURY UPDATE: •
OF Magglio Ordonez (re-fracture of his right ankle at the site that was previously surgically repaired,
15-day disabled list? on October 10).
•
OF Brennan Boesch (right thumb surgery,
15-day disabled list on September 9).
•
RHP Joel Zumaya (right elbow olecranon fracture surgery,
60-day disabled list on March 30).
•
LHP Brad Thomas (left elbow inflammation,
60-day DL on May 11)
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Gameday Audio•
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Official Press Pass game notesOn television•
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Direct TV Extra Innings ScheduleOn radio•
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XM Channel Schedule______________________________________
Up next (Probable Pitchers) (RHP
Justin Verlander (0-1, 6.75 ERA))
VS Rangers (LHP
C.J. Wilson (0-0, -.-- ERA)),
4:19 p.m. ET (FOX / WXYT 97.1 FM & 1270 AM)• Friday, October 14: ALCS PLAYOFFS OFFDAY
• Saturday, October 15: ALCS PLAYOFFS* Tigers (RHP
Max Scherzer (0-0, -.-- ERA))
AT Rangers (LHP
Derek Holland (0-0, -.-- ERA)),
8:05 p.m. ET (FOX / WXYT 97.1 FM & 1270 AM)• Sunday, October 16: ALCS PLAYOFFS* Tigers (RHP
Doug Fister (0-0, -.-- ERA))
AT Rangers (RHP
Colby Lewis (0-0, -.-- ERA)),
8:05 p.m. ET (FOX / WXYT 97.1 FM & 1270 AM)
Wed Oct 12, 2011 3:32 am
out swinging.
2 - 0