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NYY@DET: Verlander fans 14 Yankees over eight frames

Rangers left-hander Derek Holland has noticed one common thread as he's struggled in his last four starts with a 1-2 record and 7.00 ERA.

"Location, just location," Holland said. "My mechanics have been fine and everything else has been good. It's just a couple pitches I have been getting up in the zone."

Serving up a total of nine home runs in his last four outings, Holland surrendered two of those in his previous outing on Sunday against the Royals, giving up six runs on eight hits in six innings for the no-decision.

He'll need to do better than that on Saturday in Arlington, especially with Tigers ace Justin Verlander on the hill. The right-hander has never lost in Arlington, going 3-0 with a 1.29 ERA.

Before the game, Texas will celebrate its 40th anniversary by honoring its All-Time Team and inducting radio broadcaster Eric Nadel into the Rangers Hall of Fame.

Verlander was spectacular on Monday against the Yankees, striking out a season-high 14 for his 12th win of the season.

Believing he'd been a bit inconsistent in his previous two outings, both losses, Verlander was able to throw his fastball for strikes and work in his curveball to keep hitters off-balance. He finished the night allowing just two runs (none earned) on eight hits in eight innings.

"It felt night-and-day different from my last couple of starts," Verlander said of his 132-pitch outing. "Me and Jeff Jones, our pitching coach, looked at some video and changed some things, and thankfully I was able to make the adjustments quickly. I really felt much more in sync from the get-go.

"Those adjustments are what allowed me to pitch the way I wanted to, whereas the last couple games, I kept falling behind guys and wasn't really hitting my spots."

Tigers: Team all right with playing Sunday day game
• Detroit is bracing for the triple-digit temperatures that are expected for Sunday afternoon's series finale against the Rangers in Texas. The Tigers would rather do that though than play a night game and get to Minnesota early Monday morning for their series against the Twins.

"It's not like it's going to be 60 degrees at night," manager Jim Leyland pointed out.

"I'd much rather play early and go," shortstop Jhonny Peralta said. "It's going to be hot no matter what."

When the Tigers came to Arlington in June, they had three night games before a late night flight to Tampa Bay to play the Rays.

Rangers: Lowe activated
• Reliever Mark Lowe was activated from the 15-day disabled list on Friday, and infielder Alberto Gonzalez was designated for assignment to make room for the right-hander.

Lowe tossed two-thirds of an inning in Friday's game, allowing one hit and walking two.

"I've been feeling good for about a week now," Lowe said earlier Friday. "They probably wanted me to go through all the stuff we go through in Spring Training -- the two out of three, the two innings, the back-to-back -- I think it was all part of the plan. I did a little bit of everything."

• Reliever Koji Uehara, who has been on the disabled list since June 15 with a strained lat, threw a bullpen session on Friday. He began a rehab assignment in Triple-A Round Rock on July 14 before a setback forced him to miss more time.

Worth noting
• Twenty-two current and former Rangers who were named to the Rangers' 40th Anniversary All-Time Team were honored at the Dr Pepper 40th Anniversary Weekend Luncheon at the Arlington Convention Center on Friday. Selected by fans who cast nearly 65,000 online ballots in May, the All-Time Rangers in attendance included 10-time All-Star catcher Ivan "Pudge" Rodriguez and all-time strikeouts king Nolan Ryan, who is the CEO and team president.

• Outfielder Matt Young, who spent a stretch of June with the Tigers filling in for Andy Dirks, has been released from his contract at Triple-A Toledo. Young, best known as a Tiger for taking a hit-by-pitch from Aroldis Chapman during an eighth-inning rally on Sunday Night Baseball, hit just 11-for-84 (.131) after the All-Star break, lowering his season average with the Mud Hens to .212.

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