The Texas Rangers emerged victorious over the Detroit Tigers in a thrilling 5-4 game. In the ninth inning, Josh Smith delivered a clutch pinch-hit double that sealed the deal for the Rangers. Ezequiel Duran singled and later scored on Smith’s hit after an error by first baseman Spencer Torkelson.
The game started with Marcus Semien reaching on a throwing error by Tarik Skubal and scoring on Adolis Garcia’s sacrifice fly. Detroit’s Kerry Carpenter tied the game with a home run in the second inning, but the Rangers took back the lead in the sixth thanks to more fielding errors from Detroit. Semien’s mistake allowed Texas to score three runs.
The Tigers battled back to tie things up in the eighth with a single by Javier Baez, but they ultimately fell short in the ninth when Texas scored the winning run on a walk followed by a double.
Dane Dunning started for Texas, going five innings, while Skubal pitched 6 1/3 innings for Detroit. The series finale at Comerica Park will feature promising rookie Jack Leiter making his major league debut for Texas, while Kenta Maeda will start for Detroit. Leiter was the Rangers’ top pick in the 2021 draft.
