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After not one, but two rain delays added nearly two hours to the game Saturday night, the Texas Rangers came away with a 3-2 victory over the Detroit Tigers in Game 1 of the American League Championship Series.

David Murphy hit an RBI triple in the second inning and scored on an Ian Kinsler base hit to give the Rangers an early 2-0 lead before Nelson Cruz busted out his boomstick. The outfielder led off the fourth with a solo shot, taking Justin Verlander deep on an 0-2 fastball which turned out to be the deciding factor in his team’s win. Good for Cruz too, cause he was in quite a slump so far throughout the postseason, sporting an .067 batting average entering the series.

Rangers starter C.J. Wilson had a rather rough outing, lasting just 4.2 innings. The lefty walked five and coughed up two runs, including one a wild pitch that scored a run between rain delays. However, the relief corps cleaned up the mess and stomped the Tigers’ rally. Five Texas relievers combined for eight strikeouts, with only Neftali Feliz allowing a hit while getting clocked at 101 mph for his fourth postseason save.

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