Texas rolled into Detroit winners of seven in a row and met a buzzsaw in Tigers starter Dontrelle Willis.
Dontrelle looked like the Willis of three seasons ago, shutting the Texas offense down, keeping them off balance. After throwing 6 1/3 innings of shutout baseball (at one point retiring 17 betters in a row), Willis left the mound to a standing ovation from the Detroit fans. Willis was visibly pleased with the reaction, acknowledging the crowd and pounding his hand into his glove.
"This is a great city, a great sports town," Willis said. "I was excited when I got traded here. Through all the adversity I've gone through, I was excited to go out there and play and showcase my stuff."
"You got to give them credit tonight," manager Ron Washington said. "That don't happen to the Texas Rangers very often. ... I know [Willis] has been having some problems harnessing his control, but tonight, he made pitches when he had to make pitches."
Willis' replacements kept the dominance going, led by hard-throwing Joel Zumaya, who pitched a shutout 8th inning, striking out two.
The lone hit the Rangers managed all night was a double by Michael Young. Texas now has a nine game losing streak at Detroit's Comerica Park.
"I don't know what it is," Rangers second baseman Ian Kinsler said. "Hopefully we can figure it out."
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