"Obviously I wanted to go a little longer," Mathis said. "I thought I threw the ball very well but that one inning got away from me. When I came out of the game, I wanted us to either be in good shape or having the lead. That's what happened."
In the bottom of the 2nd, Mathis' offense responded for him, scoring four runs off RBI doubles by both Elvis Andrus and Michael, and a 2-run triple by Ian Kinsler.
Josh Hamilton added an RBI on a bloop single and, with the way he's been struggling, you've gotta hope seeing something like like that drop in for him might mean the beginning of the end of his run of bad luck.
Doug Mathis was replaced by Jason Grilli, who entered the game in the 5th, retiring all six batters he faced over two innings of work. Grilli was not only pumped up having his father there in the stands watching him pitch but also because he pitched for the Tigers from '05-'08.
"I've spent some time over there," Grilli said after the Rangers' 7-3 victory. "It's bragging rights, playing against your friends. It's friendly competition. I've had great experiences over there."
Grilli was followed by Eddie Guardado and Darren O'Day, both of whom pitched an inning of hitless baseball. Guillermo Moscoso closed the game out with a scoreless 9th inning.
Overall, Texas' relievers were able to retire 15 of the final 16 batters they faced.
"The bullpen did a great job tonight," manager Ron Washington said. "We came back after we spotted them three runs. We were able to put together some runs."
The win moved Texas to 14 games over .500 and have now won six straight home games. They are 2 1/2 games behind the Angels in the West.
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