Adrian Beltre and the Texas Rangers overcame the loss of starting pitcher A.J. Griffin with a barrage of home runs.
Beltre hit two of Texas’s five homers, and the Rangers slugged their way to a 10-5 victory over the Tigers Saturday in Detroit.
Rougned Odor, Nomar Mazara, and Mitch Moreland also went deep for the Rangers, who scored five runs in the sixth inning and overcame an injury-shortened start by Griffin, who was pulled after throwing 53 pitches bcause of stiffness in his throwing shoulder.
He allowed three runs and four hits in 2? innings, walking three and striking out two.
‘‘Any time Beltre shows up in a batter’s box or baseball field you look for special things to happen,’’ Texas manager Jeff Banister said. ‘‘He’s monster strong, so when he gets the barrel to it, it’s loud.’’
The Tigers led, 5-2, entering the sixth, but Odor led off with a single and scored on Mazara’s double. Beltre then tied it with an opposite-field homer.
Moreland’s two-run shot off reliever Kyle Ryan (0-1) later that inning gave Texas the lead.
Anthony Ranaudo (1-0) got the win. Shawn Tolleson was credited with his 10th save in 12 chances, striking out Anthony Gose with the bases loaded for the final out.
Ian Kinsler homered for Detroit, which has lost five straight.
Mike Pelfrey allowed five runs and seven hits in five-plus innings, squandering a good chance to earn his first victory since signing with the Tigers in the offseason. He allowed consecutive homers by Odor and Mazara to start the game.
Detroit took a 3-2 lead in the third on a two-run single by Nick Castellanos, and Kinsler added a two-run homer in the fourth off Ranaudo.
Beltre’s tying homer came on an 0-2 pitch by Pelfrey in the sixth, and the Detroit bullpen couldn’t stop the Texas onslaught. Beltre hit another two-run shot in the seventh to make it 9-5.
‘‘I’m embarrassed,’’ Pelfrey said. ‘‘These guys gave me a three-run lead in the sixth inning and I couldn’t hold it. That’s on me. I feel terrible.’’
Mets 6, Padres 3 — Pitcher Bartolo Colon became the oldest player to hit his first major league home run, connecting less than three weeks before his 43d birthday, to help New York win in San Diego.
Colon’s impressive two-run drive off James Shields into the seats in the left field corner gave the Mets a 4-0 lead with two outs in the second. Colon (3-1) watched the ball all the way, and didn’t toss his bat until he was well more than halfway to first base. The portly pitcher’s trot around the bases took about 30 seconds.
Randy Johnson hit his only homer shortly after turning 40 in 2003. He was the oldest to finally hit a home run before Colon.
New York scored all of its runs on homers by Colon, Yoenis Cespedes, David Wright, and Michael Conforto.
A’s, Orioles split — Marcus Semien homered and drove in three runs as Oakland snapped a four-game losing streak with a 8-4 win in the opener of a doubleheader at Baltimore.
Chris Davis hit a two-run homer as the Orioles took the nightcap, 5-2.
Cubs 8, Nationals 5 — Kris Bryant homered and Addison Russell had three RBIs as host Chicago improved to 23-6.
Royals 7, Indians 0 — Ian Kennedy (4-2) pitched seven innings of four-hit ball as Kansas City blanked host Cleveland.
Brewers 13, Reds 7 — Aaron Hill went 3 for 5 and drove in seven runs on three homers, including a grand slam that highlighted a seven-run explosion in the 10th inning for Milwaukee in Cincinnati.
Ryan Braun and Jonathan Lucroy also homered for the Brewers in the 15-hit attack.
Mariners 3, Astros 2 — Robinson Cano hit a solo homer in the top of the 10th to give Seattle the victory over host Houston.
Cano answered Luis Valbuena’s tying homer in the bottom of the ninth that made it 2-2.
Diamondbacks 4, Braves 2 — Brandon Drury broke a 2-2 tie with a RBI double in the sixth for visiting Arizona.
White Sox 7, Twins 2 — Todd Frazier hit a RBI double in a three-run seventh that broke it open for visiting Chicago and seven-game winner Chris Sale.
Phillies 4, Marlins 3 — Odubel Herrera and Cesar Hernandez hit RBI singles to key a three-run outburst for visiting Philadelphia.
Dodgers 6, Blue Jays 2 — Clayton Kershaw struck out 10, Joc Pederson and Justin Turner homered, and Los Angeles stopped host Toronto’s winning streak at four.
Coming off a three-hit shutout against the Padres and facing the Blue Jays for the first time, Kershaw (4-1) allowed two runs and eight hits in seven innings.
The three-time NL Cy Young Award winner has fanned at least 10 in four straight outings.
Pedro Baez worked the eighth and Kenley Jansen finished as the Dodgers won for the third time in 11 games.
Knuckleballer R.A. Dickey (1-4) lost his fourth straight decision, allowing four runs and six hits in seven innings.
Cardinals 6, Pirates 4 — Matt Carpenter hit a tiebreaking two-run homer in the ninth for host St. Louis.
Aledmys Diaz sparked the winning rally with a leadoff single. After Jeremy Hazelbaker flied to deep left, Carpenter drove a 1-and-2 pitch from A.J. Schugel (0-1) over the wall in right for his fourth homer.
It was the Cardinals’ first win over the Pirates in five games this season.
Pittsburgh had tied the game on Starling Marte’s double off Trevor Rosenthal (1-1) with two out in the top of the ninth.
Giants 2, Rockies 1 — Matt Duffy hit a walkoff RBI double to lift host San Francisco in the 13th.
Rays 4, Angels 2 — Logan Forsythe hit a broken-bat two-run single with the bases loaded in the ninth inning for visiting Tampa Bay.
