ARLINGTON, Texas — Things went askew for Tyler Alexander well before he took the mound for his first start ever at Globe Life Field.
He grew up in the Fort Worth area and went to college at TCU.
And yet, on the wall in the visitors’ clubhouse where the Rangers have photos of all the current big league players from Texas, Alexander is not among them.
“I guess I’m not Texan enough,” he said before Friday's game.
It’s a technicality. Although he spent virtually his entire life in Texas, Alexander was born in Chicago.
Then the game happened.
Alexander gave up three loud home runs and lasted just three innings as the Tigers opened a three-game series against the Rangers with a 7-6 loss.
Before Friday night, Alexander had seemingly gotten his home run issues under control. He came into his start against the slugging Rangers with a career-best 2.8% homer rate (seven in 60 1/3 innings).
He had a relapse.
Nathaniel Lowe, who has been the American League’s hottest hitter since the All-Star break (.362, OPS over 1.0), lashed a cutter from Alexander off the batter’s eye in center field, a 449-foot missile, in the first inning.
Then with two on in the second, Ezequiel Duran got another mislocated cutter, this one up in the zone, and sent it flying 412 feet over the wall in left.
Four runs on two swings of the bat, both off Alexander’s cutter.
The Rangers scored three more times in the third, two on a 398-foot home run to right field by designated hitter Mark Mathias. That one came off a slider.
Three homers, 1,259 feet traveled, six runs produced.
Rough night.
But the Rangers stopped scoring after Alexander left.
Rookie right-hander Garrett Hill, his first outing since Aug. 16 and the first relief appearance of his young career, held the Rangers in check for three innings on two singles and a walk.
He struck out four, including the first three hitters he faced — Bubba Thompson, Marcus Semien and Corey Seager.
Jason Foley and Jose Cisnero also put up zeros.
And rookie Riley Greene almost brought the Tigers all the way back by himself with a four-RBI night.
Against Rangers right-handed starter Glenn Otto, who has kept left-handed hitters in check this season (.192 average), Greene produced a single and a triple, knocked in two runs and scored twice.
Then in the ninth against right-hander Jose Leclerc, Greene pounded a 2-2 slider into the right-field seats, a two-run homer. The ball flew 411 feet and cut the Rangers' lead to one.
After Victor Reyes extended his hitting streak to 10 games with a single, Leclerc struck out Javier Báez and Harold Castro to end it.
