Rangers Beat Tigers with Three-Homer Night

Photo by Tim Heitman/Getty Images

June 28, 2023

Rangers 10, Tigers 2

ARLINGTON, Tex. (June 28) — The Texas Rangers managed to keep the Detroit Tigers at bay on Wednesday, winning 10–2. They nailed down their second win in a row with home runs by Josh Jung, Ezequiel Duran, and Adolis Garcia. With this victory, the Rangers notched their MLB-leading 18th win this year in which they scored 10 or more runs. The Rangers and Tigers will wrap up this four-game set on Thursday afternoon at 1 pm Central at Globe Life Field. Starting pitchers for both teams, as of press time, have yet to be announced.

Four-Run First for Rangers

The Rangers got off to a quick start in the bottom of the first. On the first pitch of the inning, Marcus Semien lined a sharp double to left. Corey Seager immediately drove Semien in with a double of his own to right. Later in the inning, Jung made it 2–0 Rangers on a single to center that plated Seager. Duran brought home Garcia with a single to left. Garcia reached base on a throwing error by Tigers third baseman Zack Short earlier in the frame. Leody Taveras capped off the Rangers’ four-run first inning with a single to right. Jung scored on the play. In the bottom of the third, the Rangers stretched their lead to 5–0 thanks to a solo homer to right-center by Jung. This was the 16th long ball of the season for the potential All-Star third baseman.

Moments later, Duran chipped in with the Rangers’ second homer of the game. This one went to left to make it 6–0 in favor of the home nine. Fast forward to the bottom of the sixth. The Rangers tacked on two more on yet another home run. It came off the bat of Garcia with Seager on base via a walk. The Rangers added two more in the bottom of the seventh. Josh H. Smith plated Taveras with a single to left. Smith later scored on a double to right by Garcia. The Tigers made things interesting at the last minute on Wednesday. In the top of the ninth, right fielder Kerry Carpenter sent one over the wall in right-center for a two-run shot. That accounted for all of the Tigers’ offense on the evening, as reliever Yerry Rodriguez recorded the final out in a non-save situation.

Dunning Nearly Goes the Distance

Rangers right-hander Dane Dunning carried a shutout into the top of the ninth before surrendering the two-run bomb to Carpenter, the last batter Dunning faced. Dunning’s 8 2/3 innings on Wednesday were a career high. His previous career high was April 30, 2022 against the Atlanta Braves. He pitched 7 2/3 innings in that game. His 10 strikeouts on Wednesday matched his career best. He also had 10 whiffs on May 9, 2021 against the Seattle Mariners.

After allowing a game-opening single to Zach McKinstry, Dunning retired 17 consecutive batters before allowing a two-out double to McKinstry in the sixth. With Wednesday’s win, Dunning improves to 7–1 on the year, with an ERA of 2.69 in 18 games. Ten of those games were starts. Tigers starter Joey Wentz took his ninth loss of the season in his 15th start. His record is now 1–9 with an ERA of 6.78. His line on the evening was 4 2/3 IP, 9 H, 6 R-4 ER, 2 BB, 5 K, 2 HR, 97 pitches/64 strikes. Wentz has now allowed multiple home runs in consecutive starts, along with a total of seven home runs in his last five games combined. The other four runs that the Rangers scored were given up by righty Garrett Hill.

Cabrera Gets Tossed

Miguel Cabrera, who served as the Tigers’ designated hitter on Wednesday, was ejected by first base umpire Ben May. The exchange happened in the fifth inning as the Tigers were trailing the Rangers, 6–0. On a low pitch, Cabrera attempted to check his swing and, as he has for many years, quickly pointed down to the first base line to get the call. May said he went, meaning Cabrera was down on strikes. Cabrera certainly wasn’t happy with the call, pointing to home plate and then tapping his wrist, but it certainly wasn’t a Bobby Cox reaction.

Postgame Comments

Rangers manager Bruce Bochy couldn’t help but gush over his starter Dunning in his postgame media session. Bochy said, “He really had a good four-pitch mix going. The command was there the whole way. Unfortunately, the shutout wasn’t in the cards for him, but it still doesn’t take away what a great job he did.” Bochy also commented on how well Dunning worked with catcher Jonah Heim in this one. Bochy went on to say, “Jonah does a great job back there, so it’s really no surprise that he helped guide Dane in this one. The pitches he called were outstanding, and this was just a great win for us tonight.”