Matthews Puts Tigers in the Cycle

Gary Matthews Jr. walked into the clubhouse and his Texas teammates were waiting.

Matthews got drenched in a celebratory beer bath after hitting for the cycle Wednesday night and leading the Rangers over the Detroit Tigers, 11-3.

Matthews did it in order too. He led off the game with a single, doubled in the second inning, tripled in the fourth and hit a 418-foot homer leading off the sixth.

He also walked in the eighth.

“It’s special,” Matthews said. “Everything lined up tonight. To go out and have days like this is really just the icing on the cake.”

Matthews became the third Rangers player to hit for the cycle. He joined Mark Teixeira (2004) and Oddibe McDowell (1985).

The Rangers roughed up Justin Verlander and sent the Central Division-leading Tigers to their 10th loss in 15 games. Detroit leads Minnesota by 1 1/2 games, while Chicago moved three back.

Carlos Lee hit two solo home runs for Texas.

Verlander (16-8) yielded 10 hits and six runs in 4 1/3 innings. It was his shortest outing since April 13 when he went 2 2/3 against the White Sox.

“This was tough, because I gave up so many two-out hits,” Verlander said.