The Texas Rangers scored five runs while the Detroit Tigers scored four runs.
The Rangers escaped the dank, musty confines of The Shed and immediately started scoring some runs. That included a real first inning, lead-grabbing unicorn with Josh Jung plating the game’s first tally with a two-out RBI single to show that his torrid April was no fluke.
With the early lead, an even rarer unicorn arrived as Danny Jansen homered to kick off a three-run top of the third for the Rangers. Jansen had notably
struggled in April but started out May with a solo shot for his second so far with Texas before Jung again singled in a run and Joc Pederson produced a run with a sac fly.
Unfortunately for the Rangers, the Tigers were pretty eager to score runs too with tonight’s starter MacKenzie Gore burning through a ton of pitches before exiting after just 3.2 fairly ineffective innings.
With Gore struggling to finish off hitters, the infield again had an issue catching a pop up that eventually came back to bite Texas with Detroit putting up a three spot of their own in the bottom of the fourth and then scoring the tying run one inning later.
With the game now tied and the Rangers in danger of wasting a 4-0 lead, Jake Burger and Alejandro Osuna hit back-to-back doubles to bring in the go-ahead and eventual game-winning run.
After Gore exited, the bullpen did a great job once again with Cole Winn, Jalen Beeks, Tyler Alexander, Jakob Junis, and Jacob Latz combining to allow just one run over 5.1 frames with Latz picking up the save.
With the win, the Rangers are back to .500 as the season’s second month gets underway.
Player of the Game: While Jung picked up where he left off in April with two hits and two RBI, plus it was nice to see some production from the bottom of the order with Burger collecting two hits, Osuna hitting the game-winning double, and Jansen homering.
Also, here’s a fun catch from Zeke Duran:
Up Next: The Rangers and Tigers will play the second game of this series with Texas turning to RHP Kumar Rocker opposite RHP Keider Montero for Detroit.
The Saturday evening nationally televised showdown from Comerica Park is scheduled for 6:15 pm CDT and will be aired on FOX.
