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Verlander sharp as Tigers rout Rangers

Apr 23, 2008 - 5:01 AM DETROIT (Ticker) -- Justin Verlander turned in a strong start and the Detroit Tigers hit three home runs in the third inning en route to a 10-2 victory over the Texas Rangers on Tuesday.

Verlander (1-3) allowed a run and six hits in six innings with one walk and a pair of strikeouts. The lone run he yielded came on a homer by Frank Catalanotto in the second inning that gave Texas a 1-0 lead.

Detroit answered immediately with two runs in the bottom of the second and took control of the game an inning later against Texas starter Vicente Padilla.

Magglio Ordonez and Miguel Cabrera hit back-to-back homers and Ramon Santiago capped the five-run outburst with a two-run shot to give the Tigers a 7-1 lead.

"In that inning, we showed what a good team does, when you get a couple mistakes, you hit them," Detroit manager Jim Leyland said. "That's what good teams do, that's what good hitters do and we've got good hitters. He made a few mistakes and we jumped on them and that was pretty much it. He's got really good stuff - very, very good pitcher - but even good pitchers make some mistakes. He made a few mistakes and good hitters capitalized on those."

Santiago's blast was his first of the season and his first in 417 plate appearances. His last home run came on August 1, 2003, at Minnesota.

Santiago had an RBI double in the second that gave Detroit a 2-1 lead. The Tigers tacked on three more runs in the eighth to cap the scoring.

Expected to be the ace of the Detroit staff entering the season, Verlander had been struggling until Tuesday's performance. He recorded career highs in victories (18) and strikeouts (183) last season but entered his start against Texas winless with an ERA of 7.03.

"I was impressed with Justin. He was stuck on fast-forward a little bit, not quite to his rhythm that he's trying to get to, in sync totally, but much, much better tonight," Leyland said. "The ball came out of his hand real good. Good velocity, a little extra when he needed it. Very pleased with that."

Verlander had to overcome a bit of a slow start. He allowed five hits in the first two innings, but only got burned by Catalanotto. Verlander then allowed only one hit over his final four innings.

"I felt better. I struggled a little bit with some command but I made some adjustments between this start and my last one," Verlander said. "So I expected that to an extent. I was able to find my way through it and battle through six. It feels nice to get off the schneid, I guess."

Padilla (2-2) lasted only three innings and allowed seven runs and eight hits, including all three homers in the third.

"He just lost his focus," Texas manager Ron Washington said. "He has been great for us since spring. It was just a bad night for him. He made some bad pitches and the game turned around."

The Rangers have now lost five straight and 10 of their last 12.

"We are in a funk," Washington said. "First it was our defense. In the last couple of games it's been the pitching. It seems to have come all the way around and bit us. It's just April, there is no quit in this team. We will be back."

The home run by Ordonez, which made it 3-1, was the 1,000th RBI of his career. Edgar Renteria had four hits and scored twice for Detroit.