Damon extends hitting streak to 11 games, accounts for 4 runs in Tigers’ 8-4 win at Texas

Damon hit streak at 11 games, Tigers beat Rangers

ARLINGTON, Texas — Johnny Damon drove in two runs and scored twice, helping the Detroit Tigers overcome an early four-run deficit in an 8-4 victory over the Texas Rangers on Saturday night.

Scott Feldman (1-2) squandered a 4-0 lead by allowing eight runs, four earned, and eight hits over 3 2-3 innings. The right-hander walked four and threw a wild pitch on which Detroit scored two runs to go ahead to stay.

Damon was batting in the fourth when Feldman’s breaking ball in the dirt went to the brick-facade backstop and ricocheted up the third-base line. Ryan Raburn scored from third and Ramon Santiago kept coming from second, sliding safely into home when catcher Taylor Teagarden was charged with an error for dropping third baseman Michael Young’s toss.

Damon then walked, and Magglio Ordonez, Miguel Cabrera and Brennan Boesch had consecutive RBI hits to make it 8-4.

Damon, who was 1 for 2 with three walks, hit a two-run double in the third and scored on a groundout by Ordonez to get the Tigers within one. He extended his hitting streak to 11 games and has reached base in 14 straight (18 hits, 11 walks) since an 0-for-14 stretch.

Eddie Bonine (2-0) pitched three scoreless innings while allowing only one hit in relief of spot starter Brad Thomas, who gave up four runs in three innings.

Thomas started in place of Dontrelle Willis, who was scratched because of an upset stomach. It was Thomas’ sixth major league start, but the Australian left-hander’s first since 2001 for Minnesota.

Feldman had been scheduled to start the series opener Friday night, but was pushed back to have extra time to recover from a stomach virus. The right-hander, a 17-game winner last season, has struggled in consecutive starts after going seven innings in each of his first two.

Vladimir Guerrero led the Rangers with three hits and three RBIs.

After consecutive one-out singles by Young and Josh Hamilton in the first, Tigers rookie center fielder Austin Jackson misplayed Guerrero’s liner into a two-run double. The ball went over Jackson’s head after he initially took a step in, though he retrieved it in time to get Guerrero out going to third.

Jackson had a spectacular play in the seventh when he ran down Young’s deep fly ball in the gap, leaped and extended his glove to make the catch. That provided a nice highlight for about 200 family and friends from his hometown in nearby Denton who were at the game.

Tigers manager Jim Leyland originally planned to give Jackson the night off, but changed his mind after hearing how many people were going to be there to watch him. Jackson had two hits but also struck out twice.

Elvis Andrus, the second-year shortstop who is the focus of a weekend of promotions at Rangers Ballpark, had two hits on the night that Andrus bobblehead dolls were given out to fans. His run-scoring single in the second inning made him 6 for 8 this season with runners in scoring position — after collecting the winning RBI single in the bottom of the ninth Friday night.

NOTES: Cabrera, who has reached base in 17 of the last 18 games, had a pair of doubles and his AL-leading 22nd RBI. … Santiago entered at shortstop in the bottom of the third after Adam Everett strained his right hamstring. … Teagarden got his first hit of the season, snapping an 0-for-22 skid, when he was credited with a single on a ball that short-hopped 2B Raburn and went into the outfield.