Texas Rangers 11, Detroit Tigers 7

Texas continues to pile up the wins.

ARLINGTON — The Texas Rangers got another step closer to their first division title in a decade Wednesday night, defeating the Detroit Tigers 11-7 at Rangers Ballpark in Arlington. The win, their seventh straight, improved Texas to 82-63, 9 1/2 games ahead of the Oakland A's for first place in the AL West.

Photo not provided by the Detroit Tigers

The Tigers aren't looking so hot right now.

Although Detroit got on the board first with an early 2-0 lead, the Texas offense erupted for the second straight game, scoring nine runs by the fifth inning. Vlad Guerrero got Texas on the board with a solo home run to deep center in the bottom of the second, his 27th home run of the season. David "Clutch" Murphy continued his summer-long streak of big hits, belting a three-run blast in the fourth that turned a 5-2 lead into an 8-2 blowout. Murphy also added an RBI in the third when he reached base on a Tiger throwing error, allowing Elvis Andrus to score.

Ian Kinsler also had a big day at the plate, going 2-for-3 with three RBI, including a two-run shot in the seventh to cap the scoring. Nelson Cruz was also productive, collecting a pair of doubles and scoring three runs.

Rangers starter Colby Lewis won his second straight start, getting more run support in this one game than he did for nine straight winless starts earlier in the summer. Lewis allowed five runs -- just two of them earned -- on four hits over six innings, and improved to 11-12 on the season.

Posted by Todd M.

Sarah Blaskovich, staff:

I was at the game last night, and the best part of it for me was Austin Jackson's incredible catch. He literally scaled part of the wall to catch a ball, then sprung back tossed the ball as he landed on his feet. I wish I could embed the video, but you can see it here -- and look for "Jackson's tremendous catch."

Even though he's a Detroit Tiger, our entire section gave him a standing ovation.

2 years, 8 months ago
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