The Detroit Tigers were off to a ho-hum start at 6-9 and were looking forward to their first inter-divisional series with hopes of beating up on the expansion Rangers. Things went according to plan in the first game as Justin Verlander stifled Rangers bats, Harry Heilmann went 4-for-5 with a dinger, and Alan Trammell 3-for-4 with a dong. But the Rangers flipped the script in the second and third games. Nolan Ryan and Yu Darvish were sharp, A-Rod homered twice in the middle game, and all the Ranger bats chipped in during the final game. Heilmann hit one homer in each game, but the Tigers left Arlington with their tails between their legs and a worse record than when they arrived. “It’s a long season,” Detroit skipper Sparky Anderson reminded the press after the game. “I’ve been around this game too long to get worried after 18 games.”
Game 1
Detroit 4, Texas 2
R H BB DET 001 200 010 - 4 12 4 TEX 000 100 001 - 2 8 1 HR: H. Heilmann (3), A. Trammell (1), R. Palmeiro (7) starters IP R ER HR BB SO J. Verlander 8 1 1 0 1 5 F. Jenkins 6.2 3 3 2 2 5 DET 7-9, TEX 7-8
Game 2
Texas 8, Detroit 3
R H BB DET 200 001 000 - 3 10 4 TEX 130 013 00x - 7 11 2 HR: H. Heilmann (4), J. Gonzalez (3), A. Rodriguez-2 (4) starters IP R ER HR BB SO H. Newhouser 6 7 4 2 2 2 N. Ryan 7 3 3 1 4 7 DET 7-10, TEX 8-8
Game 3
Texas 7, Detroit 3
R H BB DET 000 100 110 - 3 3 5 TEX 000 151 00x - 7 9 3 HR: H. Heilmann (5) starters IP R ER HR BB SO T. Bridges 3.2 6 6 0 2 2 Y. Darvish 7 2 2 0 5 8 DET 7-11, TEX 9-8
