The Rangers had no trouble trouncing the Tigers in the first two games of the series in Detroit on Thursday and Friday, both under the lights. But in the two-day games of the four-day set, things went the opposite: the Rangers lost 14–7 on Saturday afternoon and fell again on Father’s Day by a 3–7 tally.
As they had a night prior, Texas opened play with a solo home run in the first inning on Sunday as Rangers’ Corey Seager clubbed the game’s first pitch into the left-center bleachers. It was Seager’s 15th long ball of the season, and it gave the boys in red, white, and blue an early 1–0 nod.
Unfortunately for the Rangers faithful, the Tigers’ bats that had been silenced in the first two games of the set continued their hot hitting from game three and into game four. They scored three runs of their own in the bottom of the first for a 3–1 lead.
Dane Dunning was on the hill for the Rangers on the day and, after yielding the first three runs, calmed down and tossed three scoreless innings, keeping the score at 3–1 through four innings.
The Rangers’ comeback attempt saw Nathaniel Lowe knock in Seager from third. Seager worked his way around the sacks and four batters before earning a base on balls to open the frame. The run cut the Texas deficit to 3–2.
Top five, Marcus Semien singled on a 3–2 pitch with two outs, then stole second, and was batted in by Adolis Garcia on a sharp, line drive, base knock to right field. Garcia’s RBI was number 45, which paces the Rangers in that statistic.
The Tigers were able to load the bases against Dunning in the bottom of the fifth inning, chasing Dunning to the showers. Rangers reliever Dennis Santana spelled Dunning, and five pitches later, Detroit’s Spencer Torkelson smacked a base hit to plate two Tigers, dropping the Rangers to 5–3 on the scoreboard.
Detroit never again looked back on their way to the 7–3 Father’s Day Victory.
Dunning’s record drops to 1–5 on the season. Relievers Matt Moore and Matt Bush came in to mop up following Santana. Moore lasted two frames, where he walked two and fanned three, and Bush allowed two runs on three hits while walking and striking out one.
The loss drops the Rangers four games under .500 (31–35), so they fall into a tie with the Angels for second place in the AL West. First-place Houston holds a 9.5-game lead against both ballclubs.
The Rangers return home to Arlington and Globe Life Field on Tuesday, June 21, as the NL Phillies come to town for two, ahead of the Washington Nationals for a three-game set starting June 24.