It's only May and the thermometers haven't yet reached three digits in the Lonestar State, but for a couple of innings on Tuesday it felt like one of those steamy August nights when the ball jumps out of the park.
The Tigers hit three home runs in the first two innings and used some creative mixing and matching in the bullpen to beat the Texas Rangers 7-4 at Globe Life Park.
The Tigers scored five runs early against Texas starter Mike Minor. In the first, Jeimer Candelario hit a solo home run and Victor Martinez followed two batters later with a two-run shot. In the second, Niko Goodrum reached base on a single and Jose Iglesias followed with a two-run homer.
Despite the early 5-0 hole after 2, Mike Minor managed to go five more innings, outlasting Tigers starter Mike Fiers.
Fiers struck out five and didn't allow a walk through 5 1/3 innings. The Tigers bullpen took over from there. Lefty Daniel Stumpf gave up a lead-off walk and allowed an runner inherited from Fiers to score before turning things over to Buck Farmer. Farmer got out of the sixth and pitched a 1-2-3 seventh.
Joe Jimenez stumbled in the eighth, allowing a lead-off walk to Delino DeShields, an RBI double to Shin-Soo Choo and an RBI single to Adrian Beltre.
Southpaw Blaine Hardy entered to face one batter, striking out the left-handed hitting Joey Gallo.
Then it was time for Tigers closer Shane Greene to make his first eighth inning appearance of the season. He got Jurickson Profar to ground out to end the eighth and then pitched a scoreless ninth.
The Tigers (15-20) are now 2-4 on the current road trip and 7-12 overall away from home. Texas (14-24) has lost four of their last five.
WORTH NOTING
* Iglesias' home run in the second inning was his first of the season. His last came on Sept. 5, 2017, at Comerica Park against Kansas City's Trevor Cahill. It was his first road home runs since last July 23 at Minnesota.
* Fiers stranded two runners and ended the fourth inning with a big strikeout of Joey Gallo. The K came just a few pitches after a potential inning-ending popup dropped harmlessly in foul ground between Fiers, catcher James McCann and first baseman John Hicks.
The sky-high pop landed only a few feet from home plate on the first base side, but McCann didn't pick up the ball until the last moment and Hicks was rushing in after reacting late. Fiers was the only one who seemed to have a grasp on the where the ball was, but pitchers almost always defer to other fielders in that situation.
Fiers was visibly frustrated by the miscue, but he answered back a few pitches later to get his biggest strikeout of the game.
* Neither of two new arrivals from Triple-A Toledo got into Tuesday's game. Both infielder Pete Kozma (Owassa, Okla.) and reliever Zac Reininger (Spring Branch, Texas) had family at the game.
Starting off: Fiers? changing speeds worked well against the Rangers? free swinging bats. He faced the minimum number of batters through three innings, inducing a pair of double plays, and never came under threat of losing control. Fiers walked none and struck out five.
Fiers remains dependable.
Aside from a Jurickson Profar home run in the fifth and a leadoff single followed by a sequence of events that saw DeShields end up at third base in the sixth, Fiers experienced little issue in his 5 1⁄3 innings of work. He surrendered just two runs with five strikeouts. His six hits allowed, however, were less than ideal, and led to a slightly elevated count of 79 pitches in a somewhat short outing. But Fiers, so far, has performed above expectations.
At the plate: Candelario, swinging right-handed against lefties, recorded two extra-base hits, homering in the first inning and doubling in the eighth. ? Candelario was followed early by Martinez, who hit a massive home run to left field ? his fourth of the year ? and later in the inning, Iglesias. ? Iglesias? home run was his first of the season and first since Sept. 5 last season. It was a two-run shot. ? The Tigers tacked on insurance runs in the 8th and 9th innings.
Candelario stays hot.
Reaching base three times, including two extra base hits, Candelario continues to be one of the most intriguing stories of the season. So far, he still looks every bit the player the Tigers were promised when they acquired him from the Chicago Cubs last season. In addition to his performance at the plate, Candelario helped keep the Rangers at bay in the eighth as he picked a hot shot to the left side for the final out of the inning.
On the mound: Daniel Stumpf relieved Fiers and walked a batter and allowed a single. He recorded one out before being pulled. ? Buck Farmer stranded both of his inherited runners and threw 1 1/3 scoreless innings. ? Jimenez struggled in the eighth inning, allowing two runs on three hits. His slider was hanging. ? Blaine Hardy retired his only batter faced ? lefty slugger Joey Gallo. ? Greene picked up his seventh save of the season.
Good bullpen, bad bullpen.
The Tigers experienced the best of both worlds in the performances their relief corps turned in. Stumpf and Joe Jimenez both struggled in their outings, allowing the Rangers back within striking distance. Meanwhile, 1 1⁄3 innings of shutdown ball from Buck Farmer, along with patchwork from the newly recalled Blaine Hardy and a four-out save ? including three strikeouts ? from Shane Greene quashed any attempts at a comeback.
https://www.mlb.com/tigers/video/tigers-score-after-a-review/c-2019987083
Webvideo Highlights of the Tigers win over rangers.
https://www.mlb.com/gameday/tigers-...937#game_state=final,game_tab=box,game=529937
Boxscore.
