Nelson Cruz is in the midst of one his slumps that usually follows one of his red-hot streaks, like the one he went on to start this season. After Saturday's struggles, he even got a day off on Sunday to help rejuvenate, both physically and mentally.
But on Friday night in the Texas Rangers' series opener in Houston, Cruz got the ball rolling in what eventually became a 4-2 Rangers win — the first of a three-game sweep of the Astros.
Cruz's monstrous blast to left field in the sixth inning tied the game at 2-2 before Jeff Baker and David Murphy homers eventually proved to be the difference in a game the Rangers needed to win, because let's face it, every game against the Astros is one the Rangers should win.
The game-tying home run on Friday marked the fifth time this year (in just over a month) that Cruz had hit a home run to tie the game or put them within one run while trailing. So while Cruz might be one to go into a month-long slump after a three-week hot streak, he's also becoming someone the Rangers can count on to come up with a big hit when his team needs it most.
