Rangers outslug Tigers 10-6, Greene leaves game with injury

Detroit – Traumatic Tuesday.

The day started with the news that ace lefty Eduardo Rodriguez (finger) and right fielder Matt Vierling (back) were going on the injured list. Rodriguez’s absence could be lengthy, the minimum recovery time for a rupture A4 pulley is typically six weeks.

But there was more.

Riley Greene, who was honored before the game by the Detroit media as the 2022 Tiger of the Year and Rookie of the Year, left in the third inning with an apparent leg injury. The Tigers announced during the game that he had discomfort in his lower left leg.

"He came to the dugout in the first inning complaining about his lower leg," said manager AJ Hinch, who said the discomfort was below the knee and above the ankle. "We sent him back out there but he was moving around a little gimpy."

Greene appeared to slip or stumble chasing a fly ball to right-center hit by Corey Seager in the top of the third. That's when Hinch pulled him from the game.

"I didn't like the way that looked so I just took him out," Hinch said. "Once we took him out, immediately we send him to get scans. We'll have more information tomorrow. I don't know what it is. That he was fighting to stay in the game was a good sign."

BOX SCORE: Rangers 10, Tigers 6

The Texas Rangers, meanwhile just continue to steamroll opponents. They KO’d Tigers starter Alex Faedo in the fifth inning on their way to a 10-6 win. They are on a 21-9 run.

"They're an aggressive team, an elite team," Hinch said. "When we don't convert some of those balls into outs (two charged errors and some other misplays), it's tough. They're just a team you have to play a cleaner game against if you expect to keep up with them. Their offense is really strong. Anything extra you give them is putting yourself in harm's way.

Josh Jung, older brother of Tigers’ prospect Jace Jung, led the charge with a single, double and home run (his 12th), scoring three runs and knocking in two. Catcher Jonah Heim knocked in three runs with a single and double. Adolis Garcia had four singles and scored three runs.

Faedo ended up with six runs and seven hits on his ledger. Jung’s homer, a 429-foot no-doubter to left, was struck off lefty reliever Tyler Holton.  

Say this about the Tigers, though. They didn’t just roll over.

"That's just the team we have," said Zack Short, who started at second base but moved to center field after Greene went out. "Whatever happens, I mean, the other team doesn't care. We had great at-bats all night. A bunch of guys were hitting the ball hard. Nobody cares if we're banged up or not. Just have to roll with the punches and keep moving."

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Jake Rogers, making his first start after sitting the previous three, homered in his first at-bat in the third. Andy Ibanez, who replaced Greene in the lineup and was in a 1-for-41 skid, homered in the fifth.

The elder Tigers threw some the big punches, too.

Miguel Cabrera, 40, had a three-hit night and moved into 15th place on the MLB all-time total bases list.

"We love seeing Miggy contribute," Hinch said. "A night like tonight is rewarding for him personally, even if it won't feel as good because the team lost."

Cabrera lofted a sacrifice fly to score a run in the second. He singled and scored from second on a two-out single by Zack Short in the fourth. Short’s hit tipped off shortstop Seager’s glove into short left field. Hustling Cabrera beat the throw from Travis Jankowski with a clever slide to the front of the plate.

Then in the fifth, Cabrera doubled in 32-year-old Jonathan Schoop from first base in the fifth.

All that damage was against Rangers lefty starter Martin Perez, who left with a 7-6 lead with two outs in the fifth.

The fun stopped abruptly, though, when right-hander Grant Anderson was summoned from the Rangers' bullpen. Making his Major League debut, Anderson, with his funky, back-to-the-hitter delivery, struck out the first four batters he faced – Tyler Nevin, Rogers, Akil Baddoo and Javier Báez.

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"Woof," Hinch said of Anderson. "It didn't matter who we put up there. He was getting strike one and he was spinning that bullet slider he has. You don't see a lot of guys turn as far away from the hitter as he does. But he was unfazed to the fact he was brand new to this level."

Anderson ended up striking out seven of the nine batters he faced. He was one strikeout shy of the big-league record for a reliever in a debut. Pinch-hitter Nick Maton lined out to center and Cabrera ended his night with a single.

That hit by Cabrera brought his career total base total to 5,272, passing Ken Griffey, Jr., for 15th all-time.  

Right-hander Braden Bristo, called up from Triple-A Toledo earlier in the day, pitched a clean eighth inning but was charged with an unearned run in the ninth (throwing error by Báez) in his Tigers’ debut. The Tigers claimed him off waivers from Tampa Bay earlier this season. He’d had his struggles in Triple-A this season (allowing 24 runs in 21 innings at Toledo and Durham.

Hinch announced after the game that veteran outfielder Jake Marisnick, whom the Tigers acquired from the White Sox earlier Tuesday, would be activated for the game Wednesday. Hinch said that move was in the works before Greene was injured.

The Tigers will have to make a corresponding move to put Marisnick on the 40-man and active rosters.

chris.mccosky@detroitnews.com

Twitter: @cmccosky