The Rangers figured to have momentum on their side as they descended on Detroit with two new dominant relievers and their lineup nearly back intact. A rough outing from Colby Lewis (4 IP, 10 H, 4 ER, 3 BB, 3 K, 1 HR) put them in a whole, as the team trailed 5-2 heading to the eighth.
Home runs by Nelson Cruz and Mike Napoli off of Joaquin Benoit tied it, and Texas sent Mike Adams to the mound in the bottom of the eighth feeling good about reversing their poor recent performance in Detroit. Adams struggled, though, allowing two hits and a walk, and a solo home run by Brennan Boesch would be the game winner. The Rangers had two on in the ninth, but Josh Hamilton grounded out weakly to end it.
The two clubs will continue their series Wednesday night, with Matt Harrison taking on newly obtained Doug Fister.