*Photo from Sports Illustrated*
Want offense? Here's some offense. Zach McKinstry drove in a run, Spencer Torkelson homered twice and drove in 4 runs, and the Detroit Tigers rallied to defeat the Texas Rangers with a 8-5 victory on Thursday night in Arlington.
In the 8th inning, the Tigers were ahead by one run. They took all the insurance they could get, scoring 4 runs in the inning to pad their lead for good. It also secured a series split for the Tigers against the Rangers, off to one of their best starts in franchise history.
Detroit manager AJ Hinch said that "We’ll take the split based on how it was. Our bullpen logged a lot of innings, unexpectedly, but we leave here on a good note. We’re gonna have a happy flight. We split a series against a first-place team and held our own and a lot of guys contributed."
Josh Jung started the scoring in the first inning, giving the Rangers a 1-0 lead on a single. In the second inning, the Tigers took a 2-1 lead on an RBI triple from Jake Marisnick and an RBI single from Matt Vierling. Ezequiel Duran tied it 2-2 in the 4th with a solo home run. In the 5th, Torkelson put the Tigers ahead 3-2 with a solo blast of his own.
Leody Taveras tied the game right back up for the Rangers, making it 3-3 in the 6th with a solo home run. Andy Ibanez hit an RBI single in the 7th to put the Tigers ahead 4-3. In the 8th, an RBI single from McKinstry made it 5-3 before Torkelson hit a 3 run home run to extend the lead to 8-3. A bases loaded walk and a sac fly by the Rangers in the 9th plated two runs, but they still lost by a 8-5 score.
Torkelson said after the game that "We were in the cage before the game, and I didn’t feel great. Miggy came up to me and was just like, ‘Trust your hands and go to the big part of the field.’ I was just like, 'Oh, all right.' It’s what my dad told me a week ago too, but it’s a little different coming from Miggy. So, hearing it from him, I just kind of believed it."
Reese Olson pitched 1 2/3 innings for the Tigers before leaving injured. Tyler Holton and Tyler Alexander pitched 1 2/3 innings each in relief before Mason Englert pitched an inning to get credit for the win. Jose Cisnero, Jason Foley, and Alex Lange pitched to close out the win for the Tigers.
Cody Bradford allowed 3 runs on 4 hits in 4 1/3 innings in his start for the Rangers. Grant Anderson pitched the next 1 2/3 innings before Joe Barlow got the loss, failing to record an out. John King allowed 4 runs over two innings, with Yerry Rodriguez pitching an inning at the end of the game.
As for the Rangers, they wrap up the first 81 games of the season with a 49-32 record, still in first place in the AL West. They have an .802 OPS to lead the AL with their 3rd best 81 game start in franchise history. They also have 4 All Star Game starters on their roster.
Rangers manager Bruce Bochy said of the first 81 games of the year that "I think you have to be pretty excited, I think, when you look at the first half. Granted, you know, we haven't quite played as well, clicking offensively as consistently as we had been, but we're in a good place. I like where we're at."
Up next, the Tigers hit the road to face the Colorado Rockies, with Michael Lorenzen slated to start the series opener. The Rangers welcome the Houston Astros to town, with Jon Gray getting the start.
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