Tigers 8, Rangers 2
J.D. Martinez and Ian Kinsler each homered and Drew Smyly tossed six strong innings as visiting Detroit routed Texas in the opener of a three-game series.
Kinsler began the scoring with a one-out homer in the first against his former team and the Tigers used a five-run seventh inning to secure its fifth straight win. Smyly (4-6) allowed one unearned run on five hits and lowered his ERA to 1.44 in four starts this month for Detroit, which pounded out 16 hits - including seven for extra bases.
Adrian Beltre went 4-for-4 and recorded his 2,500th career hit for Texas, which has lost a season-high six straight games. Colby Lewis (5-5) worked into the seventh inning for the first time this season and was charged with four runs on nine hits over 6 1/3 frames.
Lewis allowed Victor Martinez’s leadoff double in the seventh and J.D. Martinez followed with a two-run blast over the center-field wall to give Detroit a 3-1 lead. Ben Rowen replaced Lewis with a runner on first and yielded RBI singles to Alex Avila and Rajai Davis before giving way to Shawn Tolleson, who issued a bases-loaded walk to Victor Martinez.
Davis and Avila had three hits apiece for the Tigers while Kinsler finished with three RBIs after delivering a two-run single in the eighth. Texas, which has scored a total of 16 runs during its six-game losing streak, failed to advance a runner past second base after the third inning until Rougned Odor scored from second on Leonys Martin's double in the ninth.
GAME NOTEBOOK: J.D. Martinez collected two hits and is batting .404 with five homers and 15 RBIs during his 13-game hitting streak. … Texas designated 1B Brad Snyder for assignment and recalled 1B Carlos Pena from Triple-A Round Rock. Pena batted sixth and went 0-for-4 with two strikeouts. … Texas fell six games under .500 for the first time since Sept. 23, 2008.