Major League Baseball
Texas 8, Detroit 5
When: 8:05 PM ET, Friday, August 12, 2016
Where: Globe Life Park in Arlington, Arlington, Texas
Temperature: 80°
Umpires: Home - Adam Hamari, 1B - Tom Hallion, 2B - Brian Knight, 3B - Phil Cuzzi
Attendance: 31190

ARLINGTON, Texas -- Jonathan Lucroy sure feels at home in his new one.

Lucroy drilled two home runs, Yu Darvish won his first game since June 3 and the Texas Rangers outslugged the Detroit Tigers 8-5 on Friday night at Globe Life Park.

"Just go out and play hard," Lucroy said after his 3-4 outing. "That's all they ask. It's a pretty easy thing to do. It's an unbelievable lineup. Anybody can hurt you on any given day."

Lucroy has been supplying much of the hurt since joining the Rangers at the trade deadline. The All-Star catcher has six homers and 11 RBIs with Texas after driving in five in the opener of a three-game series.

"I've seen this type of production from Lucroy in Milwaukee," Texas manager Jeff Banister said. "It's the type of hitter he is. Very calm at the plate. Generally, does not chase."

The American League West-leading Rangers improved to 69-48 after their sixth win in the last seven games. Texas, which owns a 7 1/2-game lead in the division, has also beaten Detroit six straight times dating back to last season.

The Tigers (61-54) are headed in the wrong direction. Despite being second in AL Central and in the thick of the wild-card race, they have dropped five in a row and the first four on their current six-game road trip.

Darvish enjoyed the offensive output after failing to get much run support this season, especially since coming off the disabled list for the second time in mid-July. He was winless in his first five starts since despite a 2.73 ERA and .216 opponent's batting average.

Lucroy and his offensive teammates gave their right-handed ace all the support he needed with four long balls in the first five innings. Darvish cruised until running into some trouble in the seventh.

The Tigers, down 8-1, scored four runs in the inning on two-run homers from James McCann and Tyler Collins, the latter off Texas reliever Tony Barnette.

The rally ended there, and Darvish evened his record at 3-3. He threw 107 pitches, his most since before 2014. Darvish missed last season after undergoing Tommy John surgery.

"There's some significance there," Banister said.

Detroit starter Anibal Sanchez, coming off his best outing of the season, dropped to 6-12 after allowing all eight Texas runs and eight hits in four-plus innings.

Tigers manager Brad Ausmus was asked if Sanchez would take his next turn in the rotation.

"Do you have any other ideas?" he answered.

The Rangers struck first with four runs on four hits off Sanchez in the first, three coming on Lucroy's three-run blast to left-center field. Lucroy's 18th of the season tied a career high.

The Tigers got on the board in the second on McCann's two-out double to left to score J.D. Martinez.

Lucroy set a career best for homers with a two-run shot in the third. He has eight career two-homer games, including two already with Texas.

"I was able to hit a few balls hard and it's working out great, and I'm just thankful that I could get a win," he said.

Mitch Moreland followed Lucroy with a solo shot for a 7-1 lead. Carlos Beltran went deep down the right-field line in the fifth to give Texas a seven-run advantage. Sanchez was yanked without getting an out in the inning.

NOTES: The game started after a two-hour, 40-minute weather delay. ... Detroit 2B Ian Kinsler returned to Texas for the first time since Rangers DH Prince Fielder retired earlier this week. Kinsler and Fielder were the key components of the blockbuster trade between the clubs in 2013. ... Detroit placed SS Jose Iglesias (left hamstring strain) on the 15-day disabled list and recalled RHP Warrick Saupold from Triple-A Toledo. Iglesias suffered the injury Wednesday night at Seattle, and was originally in the lineup Friday before being a late scratch. "I came today to try to run, and it grabbed me," he said. ... The Tigers reinstated RHP Bruce Rondon from paternity leave. ... Atlanta claimed INF Kyle Kubitza off waivers from Texas. He was designated for assignment on Wednesday.
Top Game Performances
Starting Pitchers
Detroit   Texas
Anibal Sanchez Player Yu Darvish
Loss W/L Win
4.0 IP 6.2
4 Strikeouts 5
8 Hits 5
18.00 ERA 2.70
Hitting
Detroit   Texas
James McCann Player Jonathan Lucroy
2 Hits 3
3 RBI 5
1 HR 2
6 TB 9
.500 Avg .750
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Hits HR TB Avg LOB K RBI BB SB Errors
Detroit 7 2 16 .200 15 6 5 2 0 0
Texas 13 4 26 .351 19 7 8 2 0 2