DETROIT (AP) — Jonah Heim doubled, homered and drove in three runs and the Texas Rangers beat Detroit 7-0 on Friday night, extending the Tigers’ losing streak to six games.
Jon Gray (2-3) pitched seven scoreless innings to end a five-start winless streak. He struck out six and did not walk a batter.
“I think we had a tough start to the season, but we know when our guys are playing well, we’re going to be a really hard team to beat,” Gray said. “We’re definitely headed in that direction.”
Tigers ace Tarik Skubal (5-4) allowed five runs on eight hits in five innings. The Tigers have been outscored 43-7 in the six losses and have scored one run in their last 35 innings.
“We’re all tired of it, but I don’t have a better answer,” Tigers manager A.J. Hinch said. “Usually I do, but I don’t. We can’t be this bad this long. That’s obvious.”
Unlike Thursday’s 3-1 win, when Texas didn’t score until there were two out in the ninth, the Rangers were quickly out of the gate against Skubal.
Marcus Seimen walked to start the game and Corey Seager singled. Adolis Garcia doubled past third baseman Harold Castro to make it 1-0. Jonah Heim followed with a two-run double past Castro to put Texas up 3-0.
“I thought Marcus set the tone, because we were facing a really good pitcher in Skubal, and he showed we weren’t going to expand the strike zone,” Rangers manager Chris Woodward said. “The guys followed it with some nice swings and all of a sudden we’re up three with Jon Gray on the mound. That’s a nice feeling.”
The long first inning kept Gray in the dugout longer than he expected, but it didn’t bother him. Detroit never got a runner past second base against him.
“I had to wait 20 or 30 minutes to get started, but you are never going to complain about that when the guys are putting up a…
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