DETROIT -- Bobby Wilson brought a little knowledge of Detroit with him on his journey back to Texas.

Wilson knew Tigers’ reliever Mark Lowe likes to throw his slider and was hunting it Sunday with the bases loaded in the ninth inning.

“I was looking for a slider,” the Rangers’ catcher said. “I hadn’t hit one the whole series. But seeing Mark, I kind of knew what he was going to do.”

It was an outside slider but Wilson reached out and put just enough of a good swing on the pitch to pull it over the left field fence for a grand slam -- the first of his career -- that highlighted a seven-run eighth.

Texas pounced on lefty Justin Wilson and Lowe (1-1) to erase a 2-0 Detroit lead and claim an 8-3 victory that was the sixth loss in a row for the Tigers.

Wilson has been alternating with another former Detroit catcher, Bryan Holaday, ever since Texas reacquired him from the Tigers on May 3. Wilson was with the Rangers in spring training but acquired by the Tigers on Mar. 29 to serve as an organizational backup. He was called up to Detroit when James McCann suffered a foot injury.

“Wilson hasn’t caught back-to-back games yet,” manager Jeff Banister said of how he plans to use his two former Detroit catchers. “I wanted him to catch two of these three games and I wanted him to catch (lefty Cole) Hamels on Friday night.

“Eventually I think it will be a 3-2 arrangement. Wilson will catch three games and Holaday will catch two.”

Wilson had a couple of big hits Friday night, an RBI single that produced the second of two runs in the second inning plus a single in the ninth that helped set up a two-run double by Rougned Odor.

His first home run this season and first career grand slam was “a big hit in that situation,” Wilson said. “And to come against the team that just traded me away a few days ago … that made me feel good.”

Justin Verlander was superb for Detroit, blanking Texas through seven innings.

Verlander was dealing a fastball that routinely sat around 90-94 miles per hour and reached 96 on his final pitch of the afternoon.

Southpaw Justin Wilson opened the eighth and left-handed hitters Odor and Nomar Mazara greeted him with singles. The right-handed Lowe was brought in and Adrian Beltre had an RBI single. Ian Desmond tied the score with a sacrifice fly one out later.

Delino DeShields followed Wilson’s grand slam with a solo shot, his second, on the next pitch and the Rangers added a run in the ninth on Mitch Moreland’s RBI-single off Francisco Rodriguez.

“They score seven runs there in the eighth inning,” Detroit manager Brad Ausmus said. “That’s a punch in the gut. Especially that late in the game.

“We just couldn’t finish it. It seems like every day there’s some part of our game that’s not clicking that’s costing us the game. This time it’s the bullpen, sometimes it’s the hitting, sometimes the starting pitching.”

“Verlander showed us a good fastball,” Banister said. “He showed he can still pitch. He knows how to spot his fastball, then his cutter, slider and changeup kept us off balance.

“We chipped in a few hits but the big hit was Bobby Wilson’s grand slam.”

Tom Wilhelmsen (2-2) pitched a 1-2-3 seventh in relief of starter Martin Perez to pick up the win. Sam Dyson pitched the eighth and newly recalled lefty Alex Claudio worked the ninth. A double by Jose Iglesias, a flyout by Ian Kinsler and a groundout to third by J.D. Martinez scored Detroit's final run in the ninth.

Perez held Detroit to one baserunner and a walk over the first two innings and retired the first two in the third before getting into trouble.

Kinsler singled to left-center, J.D. Martinez walked and Miguel Cabrera unleashed an RBI ground-rule double to right that bounced into the stands on one hop. Victor Martinez walked on four pitches to load the bases and Justin Upton walked on a 3-2 pitch to force in a second run.

After the game Detroit announced it was sending Buck Farmer back to Triple-A Toledo and bringing up outfielder Tyler Collins. The Tigers had been going with just a three-man bench, but with three games coming up in a National League city, will need pinch-hitting possibilities.

NOTES: Tigers manager Brad Ausmus indicated Sunday he will give a day off apiece to 1B Miguel Cabrera, DH Victor Martinez and 3B Nick Castellanos while Detroit is at NL foe Washington the next three games. Martinez will play first base twice and Cabrera will play third and first. ... Texas placed RHP A.J. Griffin on the disabled list Sunday with right shoulder soreness and recalled LHP Alex Claudio, just optioned to Triple-A Round Rock. ... OF Cameron Maybin (shoulder soreness) played a rehab game in center field for Triple-A Toledo on Saturday and could rejoin the Tigers soon. ... RHP Yu Darvish will get an extra day of rest before his next rehab start, Thursdayin Round Rock, perhaps so the Texas manager and coaches can watch him on the Rangers' day off.