Rangers strike early, hold on to beat Tigers 7-5

The last thing the Texas Rangers wanted to see was a rain delay. Especially two of them.

After getting into their suburban Detroit hotel after 4 a.m. on Thursday, the start of the series opener against the Detroit Tigers was delayed by 20 minutes.

A brief delayed start isn't that big of a deal, but after the Rangers built a 5-0 lead in the fourth another rain shower forced a second delay. This time it was 31 minutes. Not exactly the way you'd prefer to start the longest road trip (10 games, 11 days) of the season.

Again, the delay wasn't catastrophic but it did Rangers' starter Yovani Gallardo no favors.

Two-run home runs from Joey Gallo in the second and Ronald Guzman in the fourth helped give Gallardo some breathing room and the bullpen made it hold up for a 7-5 win.

"Tough travel day, tough for our guys last night but they showed up well," said Rangers manager Jeff Banister, who became the fastest in club history to win 300 games. The rain delay challenged us a little bit."

Gallardo was struck for three runs (two earned) in the bottom of the fourth after the delay. He left after a solo homer from Niko Goodrum and a one-out single by Victor Martinez in the sixth. He was charged with four runs (three earned) on eight hits and a walk over 5 1/3 innings. He struck out two and improved to 3-0.



"He was a true professional and then settled in and got himself through the inning and was able to go back out [in the fifth]," Banister said of Gallardo.

The win snaps a three-game losing streak. Banister won his 300th in the 574th game of his career, breaking Johnny Oates' 1998 record of 579.

"I'm fortunate enough to be granted an opportunity to manage this baseball team," he said. "It's that coaching staff and every player who has come through here in the last three-plus years."

Ricardo Rodriguez took over for Gallardo in the sixth and pitched 1 2/3 scoreless innings of relief, his 2018 debut. Rodriguez was called up from Triple-A Round Rock Thursday afternoon to replace Chris Martin, who was placed on the 10-day disabled list with left groin strain.

Jake Diekman pitched a scoreless eighth to get the game to the ninth with three-run lead for closer Keone Kela.

Kela, seeking his 21st save in as many chances, was quickly in a bind. An infield single and a fielding error by third baseman Jurickson Profar put two on with no outs. Victor Reyes singled in Ronny Rodriguez to cut Texas' lead to 7-5.

With one out and runners on the corners, Kela struck out Nicholas Castellanos and then retired Niko Goodrum with a broken-bat dribbler back to the mound.

This story was originally published July 5, 2018 at 9:55 PM.