ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Nathan Eovaldi weathered a three-run Detroit uprising after taking a no-hitter into the fifth inning and Elias Díaz, Josh Smith and Evan Carter hit solo home runs to help the Texas Rangers beat the Tigers 10-4 on Thursday night.
The Rangers matched a season high with the 17 runs en route to their seventh victory in eight games. The Tigers arrived at Globe Life Field after sweeping three games at Yankee Stadium.
Eovaldi (9-7)
allowed only one walk through four innings and matched a season high with nine strikeouts in winning his fourth consecutive start, pitching five-plus innings. Detroit’s Colt Keith led off the fifth by homering on an 0-2 cut fastball above the strike zone. Hao-Yu Lee added a two-run homer that barely cleared the wall in left, just beyond Alejandro Osuna’s reach.
Eovaldi allowed five hits in the fifth inning and was pulled leading 5-3 after Riley Greene led off the sixth with a double. Peyton Gray, Texas’ third pitcher in the sixth, struck out Lee with the bases loaded to end the inning.
Díaz’s home run came in Texas’ three-run second inning, his second in two games.
Smith, recalled from a rehab assignment Wednesday after missing 37 games primarily due to viral meningitis, hammered a first-pitch fastball for his first homer of the season and his first career pinch-hit homer in the sixth.
Carter, activated from the injured list on Sunday, homered in the eighth.
Osuna and Nicky Lopez each had three hits.
Framber Valdez (4-6) allowed five runs on nine hits and two walks in five innings. That ended Detroit’s club-record 35-game streak of starting pitchers allowing no more than four runs.
UP NEXT
The series will takes a break on Friday with a World Cup game between Australia and Egypt being played nearby at the Dallas Cowboys’ stadium. On Saturday, Tigers RHP Jack Flaherty (1-8, 4.97 ERA) was scheduled to face Rangers RHP Kumar Rocker (2-6, 3.83).
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AP MLB: https://apnews.com/mlb
