Kenta Maeda Throws Only Two Pitches before Leaving with Right-Side Abdominal Discomfort; Rangers Top Detroit 9-1 to Avoid a Sweep

AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez

12:40 JST, June 6, 2024

ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Texas starter José Ureña had a perfect game through six innings when recent Detroit callup Justyn-Henry Malloy homered for his first major league hit, but the Rangers beat the Tigers 9-1 on Wednesday night.

Ureña (2-5) retired the first 15 batters before Malloy led off by hitting a 95-mph sinker 413 feet to left-center field on a 3-1 pitch. The 32-year-old allowed the one hit and one walk in 6 2/3 innings throwing 97 pitches. He received a huge ovation as he left the game.

David Robertson and Kirby Yates finished Texas’ combined two-hitter.

Malloy was called up from Triple-A Toledo on Monday. He was the starting DH in all three games of the Tigers’ series at Texas and was 0 for 8 with three strikeouts before his homer. He added an eighth-inning single.

Two players left during the first two innings with injuries. Detroit starter Kenta Maeda threw only two pitches before leaving with right-side abdominal discomfort. Texas shortstop Corey Seager left with left hamstring tightness following an opposite-field RBI single in the second.

Jonah Heim and Josh Smith both had three hits with a homer and two RBI for the Rangers (30-32), who salvaged the finale of the three-game series.

Five Tigers relievers followed Maeda beginning with Joey Wentz (0-1), whose 2 2/3 innings and 65 pitches were season highs while allowing three runs. The fifth was position player Zach McKinstry.

Detroit (31-31) finished a two-stop road trip 4-3.

Ureña was signed as a minor league free agent in January. He began the season in the bullpen but was moved to the starting rotation in early May when multiple Texas starters went on the injured list. He’s 2-3 as a starter and received four total runs of support in his previous four starts.

He was aided by two outstanding fielding plays. Left fielder Travis Jankowski ran down a slicing fly hit by Riley Greene in the fourth inning. In the fifth, Colt Keith’s hard-hit liner to the left side was snagged by Ezequiel Duran, who entered the game in the third inning when Smith was moved from third to shortstop to replace Seager.

Ureña has made 149 major league starts. His only complete game was thrown for Miami in 2018.