DETROIT _ Jesse Chavez made his first real start in two years and it went about as well as the Texas Rangers could have hoped.
The Rangers beat the Detroit Tigers 5-3 in their series opener at Comerica Park on Tuesday night and Chavez was a big reason why.
Joey Gallo's return to the lineup was another.
Gallo was 1 for 3 with an RBI double in his first game since leaving a game June 1 with a left oblique strain.
Ronald Guzman was 2 for 3 with a home run and two RBIs. Texas scored twice in the first after Shin-Soo Choo and Willie Calhoun started it off with singles and scored on Nomar Mazara's single and Logan Forsythe's sacrifice fly.
They added single runs in the third, sixth and eighth innings.
But Chavez was more than enough to keep the Tigers at bay. He struck out seven in 6 1/3 innings and held Detroit to one unearned run on five hits and no walks. Four of his strikeouts were looking. He left after striking out the lead-off hitter in the seventh at 76 pitches, the most he's thrown this season and the most he's thrown since he made his last legit start July 30, 2017 for the Angels.
Chavez has worked as the opener four times this season but Tuesday's outing was the first time he was pitched as a starter in the rotation. The Rangers have struggled to find consistent arms after Mike Minor, Lance Lynn and, to a lesser degree, Adrian Sampson, while Drew Smyly and Shelby Miller have struggled to sustain any kind of success.
Lock St. John made his major-league debut as Chavez's replacement and retired both batters he faced in the seventh. Jose Leclerc walked two in a scoreless eighth.
Shelby Miller allowed a two-out, two-run homer in the ninth to Ronny Rodriguez but eventually closed it out.
