DETROIT - One moment, Justin Verlander and the Tigers were on the verge of watching their season slip away.
After a double play and a lucky bounce, they were headed back to Texas.
Verlander helped save Detroit's season with a gutsy effort and the Tigers hit for a sudden cycle to break away in a 7-5 victory Thursday that cut the Rangers' lead to 3-2 in the AL championship series.
Delmon Young hit two of Detroit's four homers and Miguel Cabrera had a tiebreaking double in the sixth inning - thanks to a bizarre bounce off third base.
"I have that bag in my office right now. And that will be in my memorabilia room at some point in my life, I can promise you," Tigers manager Jim Leyland said.
After building a five-run cushion, Detroit held on despite Nelson Cruz's record fifth home run of the series. With closer Jose Valverde unavailable for the Tigers, Texas cut it to 7-5 in the ninth and had Cruz on deck when Phil Coke retired Mike Napoli on a game-ending groundout with two runners on.