Rangers DH Kyle Higashioka almost put out twice by Tigers All-Stars in strange sequence

ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Texas designated hitter Kyle Higashioka was almost put out twice by All-Star players from Detroit in a strange sequence in the third inning of the Rangers’ 2-0 win Friday night. He still never scored.

Higashioka first reached base on a one-out single, a sinking liner that American League starting left fielder Riley Greene had in his glove after a sliding play on the ball that was ruled to have hit the ground.

Tigers manager A.J. Hinch challenged, but the safe call stood after a lengthy replay review. The ball certainly bounced, but it was unclear on several angles if Greene had the tip of his glove under the ball when it ricocheted up into the webbing.

With Higashioka at first, Jonah Heim then hit a grounder up the middle fielded by shortstop Javier Báez on the move in front of second base. Still going forward, Báez extended his glove and the ball to his left without making contact with Higashioka, who did a sidestep and stopped seemingly out of the baseline to avoid him. The shortstop then made a throw wide of first base that allowed Heim to reach safely and Higashioka to advance to third.

Second base umpire Alfonso Marquez, also the crew chief, was explaining his call to Báez when Hinch came out for a lengthy argument.

Hinch said the explanation he got was that Báez didn’t make enough of an effort to tag Higashioka.

Báez was the AL starting center fielder in the All-Star Game on Tuesday night, but in the first game out of the break for the Tigers made his 28th start at shortstop — the same number of games he has started in the outfield this season.

Higashioka got stranded at third base when Josh Smith had a shallow flyout on a 3-0 pitch before Corey Seager struck out.

Seager’s two-run double with two outs in the eighth inning produced the only runs. That included Cody Freeman scoring as a pinch-runner in his big-league debut when ran for Higashioka, who had doubled earlier in the inning before Smith walked.

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