Jake Rogers hit a pair of solo homers as the Detroit Tigers opened a three-game series against the Texas Rangers with a 2-1 victory in Arlington, Texas, on Monday.
Rogers recorded his third multi-homer game of his career and broke a 1-1 tie with a two-out homer in the eighth inning against Jose Leclerc (3-4).
Beau Brieske (1-0) pitched three scoreless innings of relief for Detroit, which won its second straight game despite being held to four hits.
The Rangers brought the winning run to the plate when Ezequiel Duran doubled with two outs in the ninth before Leody Taveras flied out to center field.
Marcus Semien homered and Wyatt Langford tripled and singled for Texas, which went 0-for-7 with runners in scoring position.
Rangers shortstop Corey Seager added a pair of singles to extend his hitting streak to 16 games. Seager also has a 26-game on-base streak.
Detroit starter Tarik Skubal allowed one run on seven hits over six innings. He walked two and struck out six while throwing 96 pitches.
Skubal lowered his ERA to 1.97 in 12 starts across 73 innings this season.
Rangers manager Bruce Bochy missed the game due to what the team said was a “scheduled personal matter.” Associate manager Will Venable filled in for Bochy, who is expected to return on Tuesday.
Semien gave the Rangers an early lead when he homered on Skubal’s fifth pitch of the game. The blast was Semien’s 10th homer this season.
Texas pulled even in the third inning. After Nathan Eovaldi struck out the first two batters, Rogers homered to left field. The 379-foot blast was Rogers’ first homer since April 28.
Eovaldi allowed one run on three hits with zero walks and seven strikeouts over 5 2/3 innings.
The Rangers put two runners on with no outs in the sixth inning, but Skubal struck out Langford and Josh Smith before Duran grounded out.
Brieske relieved Skubal and struck out the side in the seventh inning before retiring the Rangers in order in the eighth.
–Field Level Media
