Adrian Beltre had three hits and drove in two runs, including Shin-Soo Choo when they had consecutive doubles in the fourth to break a 6-all tie.
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The Texas Rangers managed to extend their slim AL West lead by holding on in a seesaw game with Detroit. Rangers manager Jeff Banister said LHP Derek Holland completed his routine bullpen workout Tuesday with no issues and is on track to start Thursday against the Los Angeles Angels. He waves to the camera, and when the TV feed comes back a second time, he returns to flexing.
The victory broke the Mariners’ six-game losing streak. Rougned Odor hit a stand-up triple to score Napoli for the final run of the inning.
The first couple innings lasted over an hour, but it was a short night for third baseman Nick Castellanos, who left the game in the second inning with a right index finger contusion, seemingly suffered while handling a ground ball in the bottom of the first. The Tigers also played one of their worst defensive performances with 3 errors on the night with at least 2 other defensive miscues. Hamels retired 10 of the last 11 batters he faced after that. Adrian Beltre then hit a ball hard off of Marte’s glove to bring home DeShields to give the Rangers the 6-4 lead. C Robinson Chirinos, fighting a shoulder injury, entered in the eighth inning for his first action since September 9.
New York is running second in the division and was spared the possibility of the Blue Jays clinching the crown when they were rained out in Baltimore. Martinez’s 38th home run of the year came off Rangers ace Cole Hamels, and Choo hit one against Tigers’ rookie left-hander Daniel Norris.
Cole Hamels got the start for Texas needing to pitch a good outing as the Rangers inch closer to a postseason bid. He has surpassed six innings in just five of his 32 starts. A double from Dixon Machado scored Romine for the final run.
The Cubs already have clinched a spot in the NL wild-card game for their first playoff berth since 2008. The Pirates’ game against first-place St. Louis was rained out on Tuesday. Texas ranks 13th with 162 home runs.
Tolleson, the closer in only his third appearance in 14 days, got his 34th save in 36 chances after giving up two hits. He beat them four times this season.
Lewis pitched 6.0 innings in his most recent start, surrendering two runs, striking out three and walking two in a 10-3 win over the Athletics. Hamels hadn’t allowed more than four earned runs in any of the previous eight Rangers wins he started. The over is 4-1 in the last 5 meetings in Texas. He walked one and struck out none. Choo finished 2 for 4 with a double in the fourth inning. He stayed in the game as the team’s designated hitter. The offense as a whole pounded out seven hits. Overall, the Rangers had nine hits on the night.
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Christian Friedrich gave up the winning hit. DH Victor Martinez was held out of the lineup because of left knee soreness. Gallardo is 1-1 with a 2.08 ERA and 12 strikeouts in his career against the Tigers.
