DETROIT (Interstat) — Danny Jansen homered and Josh Jung drove in two runs as the Texas Rangers defeated the Detroit Tigers 5-4 on a rainy Friday night at Comerica Park.

The Rangers climbed back to .500 at 16-16 after losing three of their previous four games. The Tigers dropped to 16-17, losing for the fifth time in seven outings.

Texas struck in the first inning. Brandon Nimmo led off with a single and scored on Jung’s line-drive single to left field.

The Rangers blew the game open in the third. Jansen led off with a home run to left field, his second of the season. Nimmo, Evan Carter and Corey Seager drew consecutive walks to load the bases. Jung then singled to score Nimmo, and Joc Pederson followed with a sacrifice fly to left that brought home Carter, giving Texas a 4-0 lead.

Detroit answered in the bottom of the fourth against Texas starter Jack Flaherty. Jahmai Jones doubled and, after Dillon Dingler popped out, Riley Greene singled. Matt Vierling struck out, but Spencer Torkelson walked to load the bases. Wenceel Pérez singled to left, driving in Jones and Greene. Hao-Yu Lee then singled to right, scoring Torkelson and cutting the deficit to 4-3.

The Tigers tied the game in the fifth. Kerry Carpenter walked and moved to third on a single by Dingler. Riley Greene grounded into a forceout that scored Carpenter, making it 4-4.

The score remained unchanged until the eighth inning. Texas faced Tigers reliever Burch Smith, who had entered in the seventh and retired the side in order. With one out in the eighth, Jake Burger doubled sharply to left field. Alejandro Osuna followed with a ground-ball double to left that scored Burger, putting the Rangers ahead 5-4.

Texas’ bullpen made the lead stand. Tyler Alexander pitched a scoreless seventh inning, allowing one hit, to earn the win and improve to 1-0. Jacob Latz worked a perfect ninth inning, striking out one, to record his third save.

Smith took the loss, falling to 0-1. He pitched two innings, allowing three hits and one earned run while striking out three.

Several relievers kept their teams in the game. Texas’ Jalen Beeks threw 1 2/3 scoreless innings, allowing one hit and striking out one. Jakob Junis pitched a scoreless sixth inning. For Detroit, Enmanuel De Jesus tossed 1 1/3 hitless innings with one strikeout. Brant Hurter threw a scoreless seventh with two strikeouts, and Brenan Hanifee worked a scoreless eighth with one hit and one strikeout.

Texas finished with nine hits to Detroit’s seven. Jung went 2-for-5 with two RBIs. Pérez drove in two runs for the Tigers.

The game was played in steady rain throughout the evening. Attendance was 28,622, and the game lasted 3 hours, 3 minutes.

Texas had entered the game following a stretch of inconsistent play. After beating the New York Yankees 3-0 on April 29, the Rangers lost three straight to the Athletics and Yankees. The victory Friday snapped that skid and brought them back to .500 for the first time since April 24.

Detroit, meanwhile, had split a three-game series in Atlanta earlier in the week, winning the finale 5-2 on Thursday. The Tigers now have lost five of their last seven overall, including series defeats to Cincinnati and Milwaukee at home.

The decisive eighth-inning rally began when Burger turned on a fastball from Smith and sent it to the left-field wall. Osuna then stayed back on a changeup and drove it into the left-field corner, allowing Burger to score easily. The Rangers’ dugout erupted as Osuna stood on second base with his first career double.

Texas threatened to add more later. In the ninth, Seager doubled with two outs, but Jung grounded out to third to end the inning. Latz then retired Hao-Yu Lee on strikes, got Gleyber Torres to fly out, and induced a groundout from Kevin McGonigle to seal the win.

The series continues Saturday afternoon. Texas will send left-hander Cody Bradford to the mound against Detroit right-hander Keider Montero. After the three-game set in Detroit, the Rangers travel to New York for three games against the Yankees starting Tuesday. The Tigers will host the Boston Red Sox for a three-game series beginning Monday, then head to Kansas City for a weekend series.

Interstat’s game simulator had projected a 4-3 victory for Detroit, and its ELO system gave the Tigers a 52.30 percent chance to win. Texas was installed as a pregame favorite with a spread of minus-1.5. The total of nine runs went under the over-under line of 8.5.