Brief rally not enough for Tigers vs Rangers as win streak ends at 3
· Yahoo Sports
ARLINGTON, TX – The Texas Rangers pounded Detroit Tigers starter Framber Valdez and then kept the onslaught going against the Tigers bullpen in a 10-4 victory at Globe Life Field on Thursday, July 2.
Visit h-doctor.club for more information.
The Rangers scored five runs off Valdez in five innings – and it would have been far worse but the Tigers played some great defense behind him.
Meanwhile, Texas starting pitcher Nathan Eovaldi looked like he was going to have a no-hitter, retiring the first nine Tigers and not giving up a hit until the fifth.
Then, everything switched. Colt Keith, who broke up the no-no, and Hao-Yu Lee homered off Eovaldi, as the Tigers tried to come back. The Tigers (37-50) had several chances late against the bullpen of the Rangers (45-43), but they couldn't get the big hit at the big moment, stranding five runners in the sixth and seventh innings.
At the plate: Cold start in Texas heat for Tigers
Eovaldi came into the game with wins in his last three starts.
Make it four.
Eovaldi baffled the Tigers early, striking seven of the first nine Tigers. It was a masterful start of the game for someone who came into the game with a season-high of nine strikeouts. Eovaldi's no-hitter lasted into the fifth inning until Keith hammered an 0-2 cutter for his sixth homer of the year.
That seemed to loosen things up for the Tigers. Zach McKinstry slapped a single. Then, Lee blasted a ball to left field. Alejandro Osuna, the Rangers left fielder, jumped up at the wall and appeared to rob it. But he couldn’t hold onto it, as Lee had a two-run homer.
Suddenly, the Tigers cut the Rangers lead to 5-3.
The Tigers loaded the bases in the sixth, but right-handed reliever Peyton Gray struck out Lee.
The Tigers threatened again in the seventh, putting two on but couldn't score.
On the mound: Defense helps out Framber Valdez
The Rangers came out swinging against Valdez. And they didn’t miss many. Only three in fact.
Valdez gave up five hits in the first two innings, not to mention a walk with the bases loaded, a sacrifice fly and a homer by Elias Díaz.
It would have been far worse, but Kerry Carpenter came to the rescue with his defense. In the first inning, the Rangers had runners on first and second when catcher Kyle Higashioka drilled a ball into the right-center gap – 102.2 mph off the bat. It looked like two runs. Easy.
But Carpenter played it perfectly. He broke on the ball, sprinting full speed toward the wall, covered a country mile (OK, maybe it just looked that way), reached out at the last second with his backhand and snagged the ball, just as he reached the warning track.
It was a fantastic play, stranding two runners and saving two runs.
Then, the Rangers stranded two more in the second inning.
So, even though Texas had a 3-0 second-inning lead, it could have been far worse.
Then, Carpenter made another fine play in the third inning. He ran up on a blooper, fielded the ball and threw out a runner at second, preventing another big inning.
In fact, the Tigers' defense was great all around. There was McKinstry, diving for a line shot followed by Lee making a great play at second. And Kevin McGonigle had a fantastic play at third.
Right-hander Beau Brieske, who was called up on Wednesday when Will Vest was placed on the injured list, pitched the sixth. He gave up a monster homer to Josh Smith, who pounced on a first-pitch fastball.
Then, the Rangers put up three more runs against lefty Drew Sommers, who didn't record an out.
Next up: Taking a break for soccer
The Tigers are off on Friday because of a World Cup game across the way at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, with Australia –.which had a vocal contingent of fans in the Globe Life stands Thursday – facing Egypt in the Round of 32 in the afternoon.
The Tigers' series vs. the Rangers resumes Saturday (4:05 p.m., Detroit SportsNet) with right-hander Jack Flaherty (1-8, 4.97) on the mound for the Tigers, while right-hander Kumar Rocker (2-6, 3.83) will start for the Rangers.
The game will be played indoors, much to the chagrin of Hinch.
“I think our players should have to play outside in Texas one time in their career, so they know what it was like,” Hinch said before the game. “There's nothing like coming here in the middle of the summer. Now we have a nice little push roof to keep everybody cool."
The Rangers played outdoors in Arlington from 1972 (when they moved to Texas from Washington) to 2019, when Globe Life Field opened.
Contact Jeff Seidel at [email protected] or follow him @seideljeff.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Brief rally not enough for Tigers vs Rangers as win streak ends at 3