Joey Wentz continues to struggle as Detroit Tigers dominated in 10-2 loss to Texas Rangers

ARLINGTON, Texas — The Detroit Tigers were in trouble from the first pitch in the bottom of the first inning.

A double from Marcus Semien, who cranked Joey Wentz's first-pitch fastball to left field, led to a four-run inning for the Texas Rangers, sending 10 batters to the plate. Meanwhile, the Tigers registered five hits without a walk in Wednesday's 10-2 loss in the third of four games at Globe Life Field.

"First inning, obviously, wasn't good," Wentz said.

The Tigers (34-45) have lost back-to-back games. Miguel Cabrera was ejected — for the 13th time in his 21-year MLB career — in the fifth inning by first base umpire Ben May for arguing a called third strike on a check swing.

Rangers right-hander Dane Dunning almost pitched a complete-game shutout, tossing 8⅔ innings before allowing a two-run home run to Kerry Carpenter with two outs in the top of the ninth inning. He struck out 10 batters.

"He had a ton of run support, which helped him settle in," Tigers manager A.J. Hinch said. "We didn't really get anything off of him until the end. ... He was able to mix (his pitches) and dominate the night."

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Back-to-back doubles in the first from Semien and Corey Seager put the Rangers ahead, 1-0, and hits from Josh Jung, Ezequiel Durán and Leody Taveras also drove in runs to extend the Rangers' lead to 4-0.

Wentz needed 32 pitches to get three outs.

"Starting, you're going to throw your pitches," Wentz said, when asked about staying in the game. "It's not a close game in the first (inning) when it's 4-0, so it's fine by me (to keep pitching). I'm good to throw. I'm healthy and whatever. Just a bad performance."

The inning would have ended sooner, but first baseman Tyler Nevin — filling in for Spencer Torkelson — dropped a bouncing throw from third baseman Zack Short. It should have been the second out.

Wentz retired three batters in a row in the second inning, only for the Rangers to strike again in the third inning.

"Everybody on this team knows where our bullpen in and what we needed (from Wentz) tonight," Hinch said. "There wasn't much to say about it."

Jung, the first batter in the third, hit a first-pitch cutter for a solo home run to right-center field. Durán, the third batter in the third, hit a fourth-pitch cutter for a solo home run to left field. The line-drive homer had a 115.2 mph exit velocity.

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After the solo homers, the Rangers held a 6-0 lead.

Wentz allowed six runs (four earned runs) on nine hits and two walks with five strikeouts across 4⅔ innings, throwing 64 of 97 pitches for strikes. He generated nine whiffs with two fastballs, four cutters, one changeup and two curveballs.

"He got ambushed," Hinch said. "I don't think he really mixed in his secondary pitch, certainly the changeup and the breaking ball, until a little bit later. Anything he threw over the heart of the plate, they hit really hard. It's a good offense, and you got to make pitches."

Runs for the Rangers

The punishment didn't stop after Wentz departed.

The Rangers, the best team in the American League West, added two more runs in the sixth and seventh innings.

Adolis García hit a two-run home run off right-handed reliever Garrett Hill in the sixth inning. García has a home run in each of his past three games, all against the Tigers. The Rangers, with the help of a García double, tacked on two more runs in the seventh inning, extending their lead to 10-0.

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Once that happened, Hill departed with two outs. Infielder Jonathan Schoop replaced Hill and pitched for the first time in his 11-year MLB career. He got the final out in the seventh on three pitches.

Schoop returned for the eighth and worked around a two-out single. He struck out Durán on three pitches for the first strikeout of his pitching career. The 31-year-old threw 13 of 17 pitches for strikes.

"It didn't matter if it was efficient or not," Hinch said. "We needed him to get to the end of the game."

His velocity topped out at 86.6 mph.

Troubled Tigers

McKinstry had two of five hits for the Tigers: a leadoff single in the first inning and a two-out double in the sixth inning.

Andy Ibáñez hustled for an infield single with two outs in the top of the ninth inning, and Carpenter followed up by hitting a two-run home run to right field. The homer cut the Tigers' deficit to 10-2.

Still, it was an embarrassing performance from the offense.

"We could have put up some better at-bats, but it's hard with these guys," Hinch said. "The bottom of the first (inning) took a lot out of our group, and then he settled in and made pitches. We didn't really have a counterpunch to him."

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Right-handed reliever Yerry Rodríguez took over with two outs in the ninth and gave up a single to Jake Rogers, but he retired Eric Haase to end the game.

Contact Evan Petzold at epetzold@freepress.com or follow him on Twitter @EvanPetzold.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Detroit Tigers dominated in 10-2 loss to Texas Rangers