DALLAS, Texas - The Texas Rangers routed the Detroit Tigers 15-5 on Saturday to win the American League Championship Series and reach the World Series for the second straight year.

Texas scored nine runs in the third inning and slugger Nelson Cruz set a post-season record with his sixth home run of the series, as the Rangers took the title four games to two - becoming the first repeat American League champions in a decade.

Last season, the Rangers reached the World Series for the first time, but fell to the San Francisco Giants.

Now they'll get another chance to win it all, starting with Game One of the World Series on Wednesday at either St. Louis or Milwaukee - the teams still battling for the National League title.

"As soon as the season began, we were hungry, we were hungry to get back," Rangers shortstop Elvis Andrus said.

Michael Young hit two two-run doubles as the Rangers put themselves on the path to victory in the third, and also hit a solo homer in the seventh inning.

Young caught a popout by Brandon Inge to end the game, triggering celebrations by Texas players on the field and fans in the stands as a giant American League championship banner was unfurled.

Luminaries in the sell-out crowd of 51,508 included former US President George W. Bush and NBA star Dirk Nowitzki, who was Most Valuable Player of the NBA Finals won by the Dallas Mavericks in June.

Cruz finished with 13 RBIs in the series, another playoff record, and was named MVP of the series.

"He was unbelievable," teammate Adrian Beltre said. "Every moment we needed him, he came through."

Cruz homered in all but one game of the series. His walk-off grand slam in the 11th inning of Game Two was the first game-ending grand slam in post-season history.

"Nellie worked hard all year," Texas manager Ron Washington said. "Coming down the stretch, he didn't really have a whole lot of at-bats. He kept battling, his teammates supported him and in the end it all came together."

The Tigers led 2-0 after two innings and finished the game with four home runs, but the Rangers' nine-run outburst in the third was too much to overcome.

Texas sent 14 batters to the plate in the bottom of the third against Detroit starting pitcher Max Scherzer and three relief pitchers.

The inning saw Young become just the fourth player in post-season history with two extra-base hits in the same inning. His first double knotted the score at 2-2 and his second made it 9-2.

Before the frantic frame was over, every batter in the Rangers lineup reached base at least once.

"It's very sweet," said Young, who is in his 11th season with the Rangers. "We're happy we're going to the World Series right now. But we have a lot of work to do. Happy, but not satisfied."

Detroit manager Jim Leyland said: "We just couldn't stop the bleeding. It was a great series, and this was just not a great game."

Agence France-Presse

(China Daily 10/17/2011 page24)