Major League Baseball
Texas 10, Detroit 4
When: 8:05 PM ET, Tuesday, August 15, 2017
Where: Globe Life Park in Arlington, Arlington, Texas
Temperature: 94°
Umpires: Home - John Tumpane, 1B - Sean Barber, 2B - Ted Barrett, 3B - Angel Hernandez
Attendance: 20636

ARLINGTON, Texas -- The last time A.J. Griffin faced Justin Verlander, the Texas Rangers right-hander left early with a bruised ERA.

On Tuesday, however, it was Griffin and the Rangers who connected with a haymaker.

Griffin was effective over five innings, Joey Gallo and Mike Napoli hit back-to-back home runs off Verlander in the fourth inning, and Texas used a pair of four-run frames to roll past the Detroit Tigers 10-4.

Texas has won five of its past six games while Detroit has dropped nine of its past 11.

Gallo's two-run homer in the Rangers' four-run fourth was his 34th of the season -- third in the American League to New York's Aaron Judge (36) and Kansas City's Mike Moustakas (35).

Napoli was 2-for-4 with three RBIs, including a two-run single in the Rangers' four-run eighth.

Robinson Chirinos smacked his career-high 14th home run to make it 1-1 in the third, Nomar Mazara had an RBI single in the fourth, and Adrian Beltre hit a run-scoring double in the eighth.

Shin-Soo Choo accounted for the Rangers' 10th run with an eighth-inning base hit.

"I think it's a big boost for our guys," Texas manager Jeff Banister said. "Great approach tonight. We continued to make (Verlander) work, hunting pitches up in the zone that they can put the barrel on. To be able to beat Verlander after the way he's been pitching I think is a huge boost for this ballclub."

Verlander (8-8), seeking his fourth consecutive victory, took the loss, allowing five runs on eight hits and no walks in six innings. He struck out eight. Verlander entered with a streak of seven consecutive starts allowing three or fewer runs.

The Rangers sent seven men to the plate in the fourth, making Verlander throw 31 pitches. The right-hander admitted that took a toll on him on a hot summer night.

"One bad inning. Down here, long innings are what gets you," Verlander said. "You have to focus a little more, honestly. I threw a pitch to a guy (Gallo) who runs into stuff. That's what he does. Not taking anything away from him. He's got ridiculous pop, but if he gets ahold of it, it's probably going to be a homer. And then I made a mistake to Napoli, and that's the ballgame."

Detroit starters are in a rut, having given up homers in 10 of the past 11 games. The rotation has a 7.94 ERA during that stretch, and that includes Verlander's previous start in which he threw eight shutout innings against the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Every hitter in Texas' lineup registered a hit except Rougned Odor, who had two walks and would have stolen home in the seventh had Tigers left-handed reliever Daniel Stumpf not committed a balk.

Griffin (6-3), who gave up nine runs over 3 1/3 innings in a start against Detroit in May and had a 10.88 ERA in five career starts against the Tigers, earned the victory. The right-hander, making his third start since coming off the disabled list Aug. 2, gave up one run on five hits and two walks while striking out four.

"It's huge any time you go out there and help your ball team get a win," Griffin said. "It didn't go as well the last time I pitched head-to-head against (Verlander).

"We've got a great lineup, and you just keep this team in the game and good things happen."

Shortstop Jose Iglesias drove in two runs for the Tigers, who cut a four-run deficit to two in the seventh off Texas right-handed reliever Tony Barnette. Alex Presley and Iglesias had the RBIs in the inning for Detroit. Victor Martinez, who was 2-for-3, connected on a solo home run in the ninth off Rangers right-hander Jason Grilli.

Detroit catcher John Hicks had two doubles, a single and two runs, and Ian Kinsler added two hits.

Miguel Cabrera, who sat out the previous two games with a stiff back, was back in the Detroit's lineup and went hitless in three at-bats.

Odor reached by a walk in the seventh, stole second and advanced to third on Hicks' throw trying to catch him. During the left-handed Choo's at-bat, Odor bolted for home. He beat Stumpf's throw, though plate umpire John Tumpane signaled a balk.

That play typified how things are going for the slumping Tigers.

"You've got to be aware of where the baserunners are and what they're doing," Detroit manager Brad Ausmus said. "Stumpf forgot about the baserunner, and it cost us. It was a two-run game. All of a sudden, it's a three-run game and we don't have a lot of outs to play with.

"(The losing streak) is not fun. We just have to play better. It's as simple as that. We've got to pitch better, hit better, manage better, coach better. We just have to be better because this ain't gonna cut it the next month and a half."

NOTES: Detroit 2B Ian Kinsler was still hot under the collar about his ejection from Monday's game for arguing balls and strikes with plate umpire Angel Hernandez. Of Hernandez, Kinsler said: "It has to do with changing the game. He's changing the game. He needs to find another job. He really does." ... Texas OF Carlos Gomez was out of the lineup for a second straight game because of illness, manager Jeff Banister said. ... Texas 3B Adrian Beltre played in career game No. 2,785, passing Alex Rodriguez for 25th all-time. ... The Rangers made a minor trade before the game, sending Triple-A Round Rock OF Travis Snider to the New York Mets for future considerations.
Top Game Performances
Starting Pitchers
Detroit   Texas
Justin Verlander Player A.J. Griffin
Loss W/L Win
6.0 IP 5.0
8 Strikeouts 4
8 Hits 5
7.50 ERA 1.80
Hitting
Detroit   Texas
John Hicks Player Mike Napoli
3 Hits 2
0 RBI 3
0 HR 1
5 TB 5
.750 Avg .500
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Hits HR TB Avg LOB K RBI BB SB Errors
Detroit 10 1 16 .286 15 7 4 3 0 1
Texas 11 3 21 .333 12 11 9 5 1 0