Texas happy with May play despite loss
DETROIT — Jake Rogers hit a tiebreaking sacrifice fly in the sixth inning, and Jake Marisnick followed with a run-scoring single in his Tigers debut, leading Detroit over the Texas Rangers 3-2 Wednesday.
“That was a fun one,” said Marisnick, who replaced injured Riley Greene in center. “The guys grinded out at-bats, and the pitchers did a great job throwing strikes and keeping the game going.”
Texas took two of three and has won six straight road series for the first time. The Rangers went 18-9 in May, and their 3520 record is the team’s best 55game start.
“This was a really good trip and a really good month,” Rangers manager Bruce Bochy said. “We played on the road a lot this month, and this trip was especially tough on the boys with day games after night games. I’m really proud of how they have played. It was a grind of a month, and they handled it so well.”
Marcus Semien extended his hitting streak to 20 games with a double in the third.
With the score 1-1, Nick Maton and Tyler Nevin started the sixth with singles off Dane Dunning (4-1). Zack Short reached on a bunt single against Jonathan Hernández, loading
the bases. and Rogers’ sacrifice fly put Detroit ahead, and Marisnick, acquired from the Chicago White Sox on Tuesday, singled for a 3-1 lead.
“It’s been a bit of a whirlwind,” said Marisnick, who played for Tigers manager A.J. Hinch in Houston from 2015-19. “I had about an hour to get to the airport to get here.”
Nathaniel Lowe cut the deficit with an RBI single in the seventh against Chasen Shreve. Jason Foley struck out Adolis García, ending the inning and stranded a runner on third in
the eighth when Will Smith hit an inning-ending groundout.
Will Vest (2-0) retired five straight batters. Alex Lange worked around Semien’s oneout walk in a hitless ninth for his 10th save in 11 chances.
The win came one day after the Tigers lost Greene and ace lefthander Eduardo Rodriguez to significant injuries.
“It was frustrating to go through what we did, but regardless, the game was going to start at 1:10,” Hinch said. “You’ve got to play, and you’ve got to play hard against a first-place team.”
Dunning (4-1) allowed three runs and seven hits in five-plus innings.
Texas went 3-for-10 with runners in scoring position and stranded 10 runners.
Detroit went ahead in the third when, with runners at the corners and one out, Javier Báez hit a potential double-play chopper to third baseman Josh Jung. but Semien’s relay to first sailed high.