Detroit Jock City
Fansided

Detroit Tigers Win Much-Needed Series Against Texas Rangers

By Griffin Fabits

Aug 14, 2016; Arlington, TX, USA; Detroit Tigers first baseman Miguel Cabrera (24) is congratulated by his teammates in the dugout after hitting a home run in the eighth inning against the Texas Rangers at Globe Life Park in Arlington. Detroit Tigers won 7-0. Mandatory Credit: Tim Heitman-USA TODAY Sports
Aug 14, 2016; Arlington, TX, USA; Detroit Tigers first baseman Miguel Cabrera (24) is congratulated by his teammates in the dugout after hitting a home run in the eighth inning against the Texas Rangers at Globe Life Park in Arlington. Detroit Tigers won 7-0. Mandatory Credit: Tim Heitman-USA TODAY Sports /
facebooktwitterreddit

The Detroit Tigers beat the Texas Rangers 7-0 on Sunday, capping off a series win against the best team in the American League.

Baseball is such a funny game. It’s a six month, 162-game grind with numerous ups and downs and streaks of all sorts. If these last two weeks of play for the Detroit Tigers doesn’t sum that up, then I’m not sure what will.

The Tigers were on cloud nine after winning ten of eleven games against good American League teams. The Boston Red Sox and Houston Astros were both swept, triggering a season-best eight-straight wins for the Tigers. Then came the Chicago White Sox, who left town losing two out of the three games. The New York Mets were next, and even they were bested in the three-game set, as they lost the series but avoided the Tigers’ third sweep in four attempts.

Fresh off the best baseball of the season, the Tigers were eleven games over the .500 mark. Then they headed to Seattle to take on another team destined for a playoff race.

The Mariners made quick work of the Tigers as they won all three games and allowed just six runs.

More from Detroit Jock City

How could the Tigers, who averaged 6.0 runs per game over the span of ten victories in twelve tries, score just six in the entire series in Seattle? Like I said earlier, baseball is a funny game, and the Tigers fell victim to that just as it looked like October baseball was becoming a reality.

Baseball is a day-by-day sport. You can’t dwell on the past, or it will come back to bite you in the future. The Tigers hoped to get out of this sudden funk as they traveled to Texas to play the best team in the League.

Aníbal Sanchez was tasked with cooling off a hot Rangers lineup, but failed to do so, and found himself down 8-1 in the fifth inning. Despite the bats chipping away in the seventh, the deficit was too much to overcome. The Tigers ended up losing 8-5. Dropping their fifth straight game was not an ideal way to begin the weekend series in Arlington.

But, again, baseball is a funny game.

Courtesy of two brilliant outings from Matt Boyd and Michael Fulmer in which they teamed up for sixteen scoreless innings, the Tigers managed to leave Texas with a series win off of back-to-back shutouts.

Their six-game road trip involved a whirlwind of emotions; distress, frustration, and then finally, improbable success.

The 2-4 road trip came to a conclusion following Sunday’s 7-0 rout of the Rangers. Now the Tigers head home to host the Kansas City Royals for three games. Of the 45 games remaining, 27 will be played at Comerica Park. When playing at home this season, the Tigers are 33-21.

The success the Tigers finally got a hold of seemed to be slipping away after losing five straight, but after an impressive series win, the feeling still remains.

Next: Detroit Tigers All-Time 25-Man Roster

And in case you haven’t heard already: baseball is a funny game. Who knows what tomorrow will bring?

Home/Detroit Tigers