Rangers Drop Series to Tigers Amid Cold Offense

(Photo by Richard Rodriguez/Getty Images)

June 4, 2024

Tigers 3, Rangers 1

ARLINGTON, Tex. (June 4) — The Texas Rangers lost another close one to the Detroit Tigers on Tuesday, 3–1. Thus far in this series their offense has gone missing, having only scored two runs. The Tigers, meanwhile, were blessed with home runs by Zach McKinstry and Riley Greene to secure the series victory. The Rangers look to avoid the sweep in Wednesday’s series finale, with first pitch scheduled for 7:05 pm Central at Globe Life Field. Right-hander Kenta Maeda (2–2, 6.25 ERA) will get the start for the Tigers, and righty Jose Urena (1–5, 3.74 ERA) will toe the rubber for the Rangers.

All Homers for Tigers

The Tigers broke the seal in the top of the second. After Rangers starter Dane Dunning struck Mark Canha out swinging, Colt Keith lined a single to right. That brought McKinstry up. He gave the Tigers a 2–0 lead with a two-run dinger to right. They added on in the top of the fifth thanks to a solo shot to right by Greene. When adding the two blasts that Jake Rogers hit on Monday night, all of the Tigers’ offense in this series has come via the long ball.

The Rangers scored their only run in the bottom of the ninth off Tigers reliever Tyler Holton. Josh Smith led off the frame with a single to right. After back-to-back groundouts by Adolis Garcia and Nathaniel Lowe, Ezequiel Duran represented the Rangers’ last chance. Duran delivered with a single to center, driving home Smith in the process. After the Tigers brought in Jason Foley to relieve Holton, Wyatt Langford hit a weak grounder back to the pitcher to end the game.

What Went Right for the Tigers

The Tigers are setting an interesting trend, as they are beginning to see double. Tuesday was the second night in a row in which their offense sent two over the wall. Furthermore, their pitching staff held the Rangers to one run for the second consecutive contest.

What Went Wrong for the Tigers

The Rangers found a way to slash into the Tigers’ cone of silence late in the game with Duran’s RBI single. Up to that point, it was all Tigers in front of the crowd of 35,095, many of whom stood in line at the gates of Globe Life Field since Tuesday morning to get their hands on a Marcus Semien replica World Series ring.

Whiplash for Dunning

Rangers starter Dane Dunning allowed three runs, all earned, over five innings. He gave up four hits, two of them being the home runs, as he shouldered his fourth loss of the season. His record sits at 4–4 with an ERA of 4.09. Dunning has allowed at least one home run in seven of his 10 starts this season. His 10 home runs allowed are most among Rangers hurlers in 2024. He has allowed 27 runs this year, with 16 of them coming on home runs.

Five Zeroes for Flaherty

Tigers starter Jack Flaherty earned the win after tossing five scoreless innings. His final line was 5 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 4 K, 60 pitches/44 strikes). He now owns a record of 3–4 with an ERA of 3.22. Flaherty has held opponents scoreless in each of his last two starts. He has allowed three or fewer earned runs in each of his last seven starts, posting a 2.08 ERA with 58 strikeouts and six walks over that span to drop his season ERA from 4.91 to 3.22. His 94 strikeouts this season are the most ever by a Tigers pitcher in his first 12 starts with the franchise, surpassing the previous high mark set by David Price in 2014 (87 K). After getting the final out in the ninth, Jason Foley earned his 12th save of the season.

Postgame Comments

Rangers manager Bruce Bochy was back in the dugout after taking a personal day on Monday. After the game, he reflected on Dunning’s outing. “I’d say he wasn’t on top of his game completely,” said Bochy. “But still, he gave up only three runs and gave us a chance to win. You should be allowed to give up three and still win the ballgame. The bats are just quiet. It’s hard to explain why.”

Dunning also gave his thoughts on the night. “For me personally today, there were a lot of sloppy pitches, just a lot of sloppy misses,” Dunning said. “I didn’t get ahead as much as I wanted to. Really I just kind of dug myself into a hole and they capitalized on two, mainly one, bad location pitch. I mean they were able to capitalize for a couple home runs.

“I didn’t really feel like I was timed up well. Felt like my pace was slower. My breaking balls, especially my slider, weren’t as sharp as they usually are. My misses at times were just too big. Just little things like that, if I clean that up, I can have a much smoother game and hopefully it brings that energy a little bit more to our offense instead of them being down early.”