Post-Game Notes: Tigers 11, Rangers 2

TEXAS suffered just 2nd defeat in its last 7 games...lost by a season-high 9-run margin tonight, team's largest defeat since 9/16/21 vs. HOU (12-1)...2 of the Rangers' 5 largest defeats in '22 have come against the Tigers (also 14-7 on 6/18 at DET)...Texas is still 9-5 in last 14 G beg. 8/13...team enters Sunday's rubber game with chance for 4 straight undefeated series...Sunday will also decide the TEX/DET season series.

DALLAS KEUCHEL took the loss in his Texas debut tonight (5.1 IP, 7 R-ER)...drops to 2-8, 8.84 in 13 G/GS with CWS, ARI, and TEX in 2022...5th time this season for a TEX starter to allow 7+ R, 2nd instance since the start of July (also Pérez, 8/9 at HOU)...14th different pitcher to start for Texas in '22.

ADOLIS GARCÍA hit a 104.4 mph shot off 3B Jeimer Candelario's glove for a 6th-inning single, extending his hit streak to a career-best 23 games...it is the longest hit streak in the A.L. this season, 3rd-longest in MLB in '22, and now T5th-longest in Rangers history...it is just the 7th hit streak of at least 23 games in Texas club history…added a solo home run in the 9th inning, his 1st HR at Globe Life Field since 6/25 vs. WAS (walk-off).

NATHANIAL LOWE posted his 3rd straight multi-hit game (2-4), as season batting average sits at .299...briefly climbed to a .300 season batting average with his hit in the 6th inning tonight...saw his HR streak end at 3 games, but extended his RBI streak to 4 straight games...Lowe over his last 7 G beg. 8/20: .452/.469/.903/1.372 (14-31), 4 HR, 3B, 11 RBI, 1 BB, 4 SO.

DETROIT leveled this 3-game set (1-1) with a 9-run victory tonight, 2nd-largest winning margin this season (13-0 on 4/23 vs. COL) and largest in a road contest since a 15-5 win on 9/3/21 at CIN (+10)…have gone 3-3 in 6 G vs. Texas this season, and need a win in tomorrow’s series finale to clinch a victory in the season series against the Rangers for a 2nd straight year (6-1 vs. TEX in 2021)…has combined to outscore Texas 39-29 (+10) this season, with all 3 wins over the Rangers coming by a margin of at least 4 runs…8 of club’s 9 starters finished with multiple hits.

EDUARDO RODRIGUEZ allowed just one run (earned) on 6 hits over 6.0 innings tonight, his 1st quality start since 5/13 vs. BAL (6.2 IP, 0 R)…has gone 2-0 with a 0.82 ERA (1 ER/11.0 IP) over his last 2 starts since returning from the Restricted List…threw 5-or-fewer pitches to 22 of the 24 batters he faced tonight, averaging just 3.25 pitches per batter...was aided by a 4-pitch 5th inning in which he retired Bubba Thompson, Marcus Semien, and Corey Seager.

JEIMER CANDELARIO cranked a 2-run home run into the visiting bullpen in left-center field in the 6th inning…5 of the switch-hitter’s 11 HR this season have come as a right-handed batter…tonight’s blast snapped season-worst 24-game HR drought, as his last round-tripper came on 7/26 vs. SD…added a double in the 8th, tying his single-game season high for extra-base hits (3x, last 7/26 vs. SD).

VICTOR REYES recorded a pair of doubles tonight to extend his season-best hitting streak to 11 straight games, the 2nd-longest streak of his career (13 from 8/28-9/12/19) and the T3rd-longest by a Tiger this season (13-Cabrera, 12-Schoop)…both doubles came off left-hander Dallas Keuchel, marking the 2nd time of the switch-hitting Reyes’ career to tally multiple extra-base hits off left-handed pitching in one game (also 2B/3B on 9/16/19 vs. BAL).

JAVIER BÁEZ plated 2 RBI on a pair of singles, the 2nd of which was the 900th hit of his Major League career…7 of his team-high 26 multi-hit outings have come in the month of August…Báez has hits in 5 of 6 games vs. Texas this season at .250 (6-24).

MISCELLANEOUS: Dennis Santana (1.2 SHO IP) matched his longest scoreless outing of the year (also 6/12 at CWS)…Eric Haase’s 428-foot home run in the 9th inning was his 2nd-longest of the season (433 ft. on 6/26 at ARI)…Riley Greene has hit safely in season/career-high 6 straight games at .462 (12-26)...Harold Castro (3-for-5) leads Detroit in games with 3+ hits this season (12).