Tigers Tame Rangers

The Texas Rangers got hurt by an old teammate Tuesday night, just not the one most people would have imagined.

With Juan Gonzalez sitting out his second straight game, Dean Palmer homered and drove in five runs to lead the Detroit Tigers to a 7-4 win over Texas.

Palmer hit a three-run homer in the third. He also had a sacrifice fly in the first and an RBI single in the seventh.

It was Palmer's biggest game against the Rangers, who traded him to Kansas City in 1997 before he signed as a free agent with Detroit before last season.

The Tigers' two through five batters scored all seven runs and were 10-for-15 with six RBIs.

"We were having some better at-bats and doing some things with men on base," Palmer said.

Palmer's homer was the Tigers' first with two on since Palmer did it April 16 against Tampa Bay. It was an opposite-field shot that just tucked in fair down the right-field line.

"Every year when he gets hot that's what he does," Tigers manager Phil Garner said. "When he's swinging the bat well, he hits the other way."

Brian Moehler (2-3) gave up three runs and seven hits in 5 2-3 innings for his first win since April 11. He is 5-2 lifetime against the Rangers.

"I've always thought he was a good pitcher," the Rangers' Rafael Palmeiro said. "He throws the ball inside, outside, it sinks, it cut, he changes speeds well so it keeps you off balance. That's really the key for a pitcher to have success is to have the timing of the hitter off and that's what he does so well."

Moehler was making his third start since coming off the disabled list from an emergency appendectomy April 22. The Tigers hadn't scored any runs for him in the other two starts but jumped on Esteban Loaiza (3-3) for five runs after three innings.

"That's good," Moehler said. "We got some timely hits, which helped."

Moehler was cruising with a three-hitter and had faced just one batter over the minimum through five innings before the Rangers knocked him out with a three-run sixth.

"I felt like I had a good game plan for five innings, then I just kind of got away from it," Moehler said. "I'd rather give up three runs in the first inning and then cruise than three runs in the sixth. That's what I'm going to remember."

Danny Patterson, sent to Detroit in the nine-player deal that included Gonzalez, pitched 2 2-3 innings and left after allowing an RBI single to Chad Curtis in the ninth. Todd Jones got the final out for his 14th save in 15 chances.

Texas is 3-5 on a nine-game road trip that ends Thursday and has lost five of seven since a seven-game winning streak.

Loaiza, who had his last two starts, allowed five runs and 10 hits in five-plus innings. He thought the baseballs were more slippery than usual.

"I asked some of the relievers if they felt the same way and they said yes: slippery and no grip," Loaiza said. "The more I rubbed them I couldn't get nothing out of them."

Three straight hits, including Bobby Higginson's RBI single, and a sacrifice fly from Palmer gave the Tigers a 2-0 lead in the first.

Palmer's 10th home run was one of five straight hits that made it 5-0 in the third.

The Rangers got to Moehler in the sixth when Luis Alicea hit a two-run double after a leadoff double from Mike Lamb and Royce Clayton's single. Ivan Rodriguez added a sacrifice fly.

Palmer had an RBI single and Robert Fick a sacrifice fly as the Tigers added two more in the seventh.

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