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| CJ Wilson |
The boxes of drinks to celebrate a truck were posted late Thursday outside the headquarters of the Texas Rangers.
The bottles will have to stay on the ice for a while.
C.J. Wilson had much to do with it.
Texas left-hander was pounded for six runs in another dismal postseason and Detroit Tigers won 7-5 to cut the lead to 3-2 the Rangers in the Championship Series American League.
The defending champions of the American squandered their first chance to advance to the World Series for the second time in franchise history.
Now they have two chances to win one game back in their stadium and Nelson Cruz, the first player to hit five home runs in a championship series in any of the leagues, he was confident about his team's chances.
"We were in this situation last year, and we went home and the concrete," said Cruz. "We know we're a better team at home and we have confidence in the guys we have on the mound."
Derek Holland will be the starter for Texas to face Max Scherzer in Game 6 on Saturday night.
Wilson was the star pitcher the Rangers during the regular season with a 16-7 record in and a 2.94 ERA, but has lost his touch in the playoffs.
Manager Ron Washington suggested that Wilson just had bad luck in a key play that I thought would end in a double play.
Miguel Cabrera hit a grounder that bounced over the third base line, which put Detroit ahead 3-2 in the sixth.
"They took a chance," said Washington. "That's what I thought."
But the Tigers also created their own opportunities.
Delmon Young hit two of the three Detroit homers Wilson received - the ailing Alex Avila hit the other - and Ryan Raburn homered off reliever Koji Uehara in the seventh inning.
Wilson said the Young's second homer, a two-run shot in the sixth inning, was in a pitch that was breaking up, and went in and out of the strike zone.
"That was a difficult pitch, but he got to the area and connected somehow," said Wilson. "I learned a lesson with this release - a very painful."
That capped a productive sixth inning of the Tigers.
