The Texas Rangers didn’t score while the Detroit Tigers scored three runs.
The Rangers had their first day off in over two weeks yesterday and all it seemed to accomplish was cooling them off. To say they returned to the office a little flat would be a bit of an understatement.
Following a ten-run outburst in the series opener on Thursday, Texas collected all of three hits today without scoring for their first shutout loss since being blanked by Cleveland 6-0 back on June 6.
In some vintage 2026 Rangers action, the Tigers went up 2-0 in the top of the first after today’s starter Cal Quantrill allowed a two-out, two-run blast to Riley Greene. An inning later, the Tigers padded their lead when left fielder Alejandro Osuna straight up whiffed on catching a popup down the line to put two runners in scoring position.
After an RBI groundout, the scoring for the entire game concluded. The Rangers got a leadoff single from Joc Pederson but much like most games where they allow early runs, the bats were pretty much stun locked as they didn’t have their second hit of the afternoon until one out in the fifth and finished with three total.
I hear you pondering, “oh, were they up against Tarik Skubal or something?” And no, they were against Jack Flaherty, who has been among the worst starting pitchers in the AL this season and hadn’t won a game in over a month. Now he has two wins on the season.
Despite trailing 3-0 after two innings, the pitching staff did its job. Quantrill rebounded to go five innings and allowed only the two earned runs from one mistake pitch and then the bullpen tossed four scoreless frames (including one shaky one from a resurrected Chris Martin). This one was totally on the lineup in a fashion that was reminiscent of the worst days from this season.
The Detroit bullpen also hasn’t exactly been a bright spot for them this season, but they combined to toss 3.1 scoreless innings – the final three of which from Keider Montero – to help the Tigers even the series.
Player of the Game: Recently acquired reliever Ben Peoples made his MLB debut and contributed two scoreless innings.
Up Next: The Rangers and Tigers conclude this series with a Sunday showdown featuring RHP Kumar Rocker for Texas opposite RHP Casey Mize for Detroit.
The finale first pitch from The Shed is scheduled for 2:30 pm CDT and you can catch it on Peacock / NBCSN Extra.
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