ARLINGTON — Drive about six hours northwest of Globe Life Field, changing highways through a handful of Texas towns as you meander towards the panhandle, and you’ll run into Canyon, the hometown of Tigers catcher Jake Rogers. It’s an incredibly long drive without crossing a state line, but Rogers made Globe Life Field feel like home on Monday.
With two solo home runs, Rogers not only powered Detroit’s offense, he was Detroit’s offense, lifting the Tigers to a 2-1 win over the Rangers.
On a night when Tarik Skubal and Nathan Eovaldi dueled for roughly six innings, three solo homers accounted for all the scoring. Two came from Rogers, whose four career home runs at Globe Life Field match his output at Angel Stadium for his most home runs outside Comerica Park. Eovaldi retired Detroit’s first eight batters in order before Rogers fouled off enough fastballs to get a hanging curveball that he crushed deep to left.
Behind the plate, Rogers supported Skubal through six innings on a night when the Tigers’ ace didn’t have his best stuff. Though Skubal didn’t have a 1-2-3 inning all night, his only damage was a Marcus Semien leadoff homer on Skubal’s fifth pitch.
Skubal got a no-decision for six innings of one-run ball with two walks and six strikeouts, but Rogers’ eighth-inning drive off José Leclerc made Beau Brieske a winner for three innings of scoreless relief.
DETROIT — While Justyn-Henry Malloy’s long wait for his Major League debut will soon be over, Spencer Torkelson’s search for his 31-homer form from last year continues, now at another level.
Malloy, the Tigers’ No. 6 prospect and the first prospect acquired by president of baseball operations Scott Harris, is being promoted from Triple-A Toledo, his first call-up to the big leagues. He’ll make his MLB debut as Detroit’s designated hitter Monday night at Texas.
