Up two games in this three-game set, the Tigers looked to secure a sweep in Arlington on Wednesday. Not only did they not get that done, they lost a starting pitcher to injury in the process. The lone bright spot in a 9-1 drubbing from the Rangers came from Justyn-Henry Malloy, whose first major league hit was a doozy.
The Tigers came into this one feeling pretty good about taking their third straight over the Rangers, but it’s tough to keep the reining champs down. It’s particularly difficult when your starting pitcher gets hurt almost immediately, and that’s how it went for Kenta Maeda in this one.
Our old friend, the sinkerballing artist known as Jose Ureña, took the mound for the Rangers in this one, and after he retired the Tigers in order in the first, Maeda took the mound. On his second pitch of the game, he pulled something and had to signal the training staff and come out of the game. A strained muscle in his abdomen seems like the likely answer, and so the Tigers were scrambling from the jump.
Joey Wentz hustled to get ready, and while he walked the bases loaded with two outs, he managed to punch out Wyatt Langford to turn the Rangers away. That seemed to bode well as he’d now have a moment to collect himself and get into the game, but it didn’t work out. Wentz allowed a leadoff single to Jonah Heim in the second inning, and he would score on a Corey Seager single to make it 1-0 Rangers. Seager managed to injure himself as well on the play, and was replaced by Ezequiel Duran as a pinch runner and third baseman. Josh Smith took over at shortstop. Wentz and Javy Báez picked off Duran to end the inning.
The Tigers continued to get nothing done against Ureña, while a Nathaniel Lowe single with one out led to a pitching change to Mason Englert. The right-hander faced off against Jonah Heim, and the Rangers catcher won, launching a two-run shot to make it 4-0.
The Tigers still didn’t have a hit in the fourth or fifth innings, and no-no buzz started percolating. Englert had no trouble in the fourth, and pitched around a leadoff double by Smith in the fifth.
Finally in the sixth inning there was some good news. Justyn-Henry Malloy, still in search of his first major league hit, got a 3-1 sinker to lead off the inning and blasted it for a solo shot to left. Pretty darn good as first knocks go. 4-1 Rangers.
Unfortunately, that was about all there was to cheer for in this game.
Englert allowed a leadoff double to Heim in the bottom of the sixth. He got the next two outs, and then they intentionally walked Marcus Semien. Duran ripped a sharp one-hopper up the middle that skipped under Colt Keith’s glove for an error. Heim scored, and then a line shot up the middle scored Semien. 6-1 Rangers.
Chris Fetter came out for a chat and Englert struck out Adolis Garcia to end the inning, but the Tigers’ goose was about cooked. They got a Gio Urshela walk in the seventh but no more. Will Vest handled the bottom half without issue. Malloy added a single through the left side of the infield for his second career hit in the majors, but Báez and Jake Rogers struck out to end the inning.
Andrew Chafin took over in the bottom of the eighth and as he has quite a bit this year, was just lit up with seeing eye singles. The command has not been there for him though his stuff looks basically unchanged over the past few years. He walked Leody Taveras to leadoff the inning, and three ground ball singles and an error made it 9-1 when the smoke finally cleared. Zach McKinstry had to come on to get the last two outs of the inning. The infielder popped up Wyatt Langford and Heim flew out to end the frame.
The Tigers went in order in the ninth, and fall back to an even .500 on the year as they now turn for home. They’ll now have an off day on Thursday before welcoming in the Milwaukee Brewers this weekend.