DETROIT – Jim Leyland didn't sound as if his team had just lost a game in a pennant race.
Maybe he didn't want to seem greedy.
After taking four of five from the Angels and Rangers, the Detroit Tigers came up short on Thursday, losing to nemesis Alexi Ogando and Texas 5-2.
"We beat Los Angeles two out of three, and then we won two out of three against the American League champions," Leyland said. "That's pretty good, and it took a great pitcher to beat us."
Ogando beating Detroit is nothing new — he is 3-0 against the Tigers this year while the rest of the Rangers' staff is 0-6.
"He wasn't in the All-Star game by accident," Leyland said. "He's a great pitcher. We played a pretty good game today, and we pitched pretty well, but he was just too good for us again."
Ogando (11-5) allowed two runs in 6 1-3 innings, walking none and striking out seven. He became the first pitcher to defeat the Tigers three times this season — he has allowed three earned runs in 21 innings against Detroit for a 1.29 ERA.
"That was a very well-pitched game just when we needed it," Texas manager Ron Washington said. "That's a pretty good lineup that he held down again."
Four Texas relievers finished, with Neftali Feliz pitching the ninth for his 22nd save in 27 tries.
Brad Penny (7-9) took the loss, giving up five runs on 11 hits — 10 singles and Michael Young's triple — in 6 2-3 innings.
"I felt great out there — that's as strong as I've felt since I got hurt last year," he said. "Everything just went against us — every ball they hit found a hole."
The Rangers nearly hit into a triple play in the second inning, but instead turned it into a run.
With runners on first and second, Mitch Moreland hit a grounder to first baseman Don Kelly, who stepped on the bag. Kelly then threw to second and Mike Napoli was tagged out after a brief rundown.
Nelson Cruz tried to score from second on the play, and Kelly's throw beat him, but catcher Victor Martinez dropped the ball for an error.
"I thought we had it — I really thought we had it," Leyland said. "That would have been a unique triple play, but we would have loved to have it."
No one was more confused than Penny, who had missed most of the drama while running to back up bases.
"I never saw Donnie tag Napoli, and I didn't realize Victor dropped the ball," he said. "So I thought we hadn't gotten the runner on first and had gotten the one at the plate."
Texas added three more runs in the fourth on RBI singles by Napoli and Ian Kinsler and a sacrifice fly by Endy Chavez.
With Detroit still unable to solve Ogando, the Rangers added a fifth run in the seventh. Josh Hamilton singled with two outs and scored when right fielder Ryan Raburn lost Young's flyball into the corner, turning it into a triple.
Detroit got two runners on for the first time in the seventh, as Miguel Cabrera and Martinez started the inning with singles. Carlos Guillen popped out, but Wilson Betemit and Raburn followed with RBI singles.
That brought Darren Oliver out of the Texas bullpen, and the Tigers only got one more baserunner.
NOTES: The game drew a sold-out crowd of 40,497 for a weekday afternoon game. ... Ogando is the first non-AL Central pitcher to beat the Tigers three times in one season since Ervin Santana of the Angels in 2008. ... The Rangers return home to play Cleveland on Friday in the first of a three-game series. Derek Holland (10-4) will face Ubaldo Jimenez in his first AL start. ... The Tigers travel to Kansas City for a three-game series against Kansas City. Rick Porcello (11-6) will face Felipe Paulino (1-4) in Friday night's opener.
Receive your weekly recap of all the happenings around the world of sports.