Following a shaky first inning in which he allowed two runs, Detroit Tigers pitcher Max Scherzer has settled down, allowing two hits over his last five innings.
Scherzer avoided a jam in the sixth, after Elvis Andrus walked and Josh Hamilton singled to lead off the inning. But the Tigers starter then retired the next three batters, getting Michael Young to fly out, striking out Adrian Beltre, and inducing a groundout from Mike Napoli.
For the game, Scherzer has allowed two runs and five runs. He’s struck out six Texas batters and walked only one. At 87 pitches (61 strikes), he probably has enough to pitch the seventh for the Tigers.
Detroit had Phil Coke and Ryan Perry warming up during the inning, however. (Brad Penny also warmed up, though it seemed unlikely that Leyland would use him to replace Scherzer.) Perhaps Scherzer will face Nelson Cruz to lead off the Rangers’ seventh, before giving way to Coke, who could face lefty batters David Murphy and Mitch Moreland.
Scott Feldman has pitched nicely for the Rangers, in relief of Derek Holland. After setting the Tigers down in order during the top of the seventh, he’s pitched 4 1/3 innings of shutout baseball. He’s allowed only one hit with four strikeouts.
Delmon Young is now out of the game for Detroit, being replaced by Ryan Raburn, who moves over from right field. Don Kelly takes over in right for Raburn.