Duran's solo homer in long at-bat sparks five-run eighth as Rangers beat Tigers 8-3

Updated Jun. 27, 2023 11:34 p.m. ET

Associated Press

ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Ezequiel Duran’s solo home run into the second deck capped a 12-pitch at-bat and sparked a five-run eighth inning as the Texas Rangers beat the Detroit Tigers 8-3 on Tuesday night.

Duran’s homer, his 10th of the season, came on a 3-2 pitch by Brendan White (1-2). With the count 2-2, Duran fouled off the next five pitches, took one low and away for ball three, fouled off a sixth, then pulled his shot 431 feet down the left-field line.

“Oh man, that was impressive,” Rangers manager Bruce Bochy said. “Fouled off some tough pitches. Got one he could handle there and he smoked it.”

Duran went 2 for 4, giving him multiple hits in three straight games and five of his last six.

“It was a great at-bat, and ‘Whitey’ battled him,” Tigers manager A.J. Hinch said. “The longer the at-bat, usually the shift goes to the hitter and (Duran) was on a lot of pitches.”

The AL West-leading Rangers ended a three-game losing streak, their longest since late April.

“All these wins are the same,” Duran said through an interpreter. “All (I) want to do is compete and to help the team win.”

Texas pulled away with RBI hits by Corey Seager and Nathaniel Lowe, and Adolis Garcia’s two-run homer, all off Anthony Misiewicz.

The late barrage made a winner of Josh Sborz (4-2), who gave up a tying homer to Spencer Torkelson in the top of the inning to end his run of 16 1/3 consecutive scoreless innings.

Misiewicz was recalled from Triple-A Toledo earlier in the day when Detroit placed two pitchers on the injured list. With the two newly injured each leaving Monday’s game after throwing fewer than 20 pitches, Misiewicz’s finishing stint was the 14th Detroit relief appearance by 10 relievers over three days.

The Rangers rallied from a 2-0 deficit with a three-run sixth inning. Josh Jung and Leody Taveras, each held out of the starting lineup because of batting slumps, contributed pinch-hit RBI singles.

It was the first time Texas received tying and go-ahead pinch hits in the same inning since July 2001.

Miguel Cabrera and Tyler Nevin had RBI singles in the second inning to give Detroit a 2-0 lead.

FOR STARTERS

Texas’ Martín Pérez allowed two runs on four hits, all in the second inning, with four strikeouts and two walks. Pérez retired 14 of his last 16 batters he faced.

Detroit’s Matt Manning was charged with two runs in 5 2/3 innings in his first start since mid-April, being activated from the 60-day injured list earlier in the day. Manning fractured his right foot on a liner back to the mound in his second start of the year on April 11.

MAKE ROOM IN TIGERS’ MOUND INFIRMARY

LHP Matthew Boyd, who left Monday’s game with elbow discomfort after throwing only 15 pitches, will have Tommy John surgery and miss the rest of the season. RHP Will Vest, who followed Boyd on the mound on Monday and left after only 17 pitches with right knee discomfort, was placed on the 15-day IL. With Manning’s return, the Tigers have 10 pitchers on the injured list.

REMEMBER WHEN

The Rangers honored David Clyde, who made his major league pitching debut at 18 on June 27, 1973, only weeks after his high school graduation, and lasted five innings to earn a 4-3 win over Minnesota before a sellout crowd at Arlington Stadium. The native Texan became a cautionary tale for pushing a young pitcher too far too fast and was out of baseball after pitching only 84 games over five seasons.

UP NEXT

Tigers: LHP Joey Wentz (1-8, 6.72 ERA) will start Wednesday night’s third game of a four-game series. Wentz is 0-5 in his previous eight starts. He limited Texas to one run in 4 1/3 innings on May 31 in a game that Detroit won 3-2.

Rangers: RHP Dane Dunning (6-1, 2.76) is 4-1 since replacing injured Jacob deGrom in the starting rotation in early May.

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