ARLINGTON (Interstat) — Jack Flaherty pitched five and two-thirds innings of three-hit shutout ball, Riley Greene homered and drove in two runs, and the Detroit Tigers blanked the Texas Rangers 3-0 on Saturday evening at Globe Life Park.

Flaherty scattered three singles, struck out five and walked none on 81 pitches to earn his second win of the season against eight losses. Keider Montero earned his first save by working three perfect innings, striking out one and retiring all nine batters he faced. Montero needed only 27 pitches to finish the game, recording five groundouts and two flyouts.

Detroit grabbed the lead in the first inning against Texas starter Cal Quantrill. After Kevin McGonigle flied out and Dillon Dingler popped out, Kerry Carpenter singled sharply to center field. Greene followed by launching his 12th home run of the season on a fly ball to right field, giving the Tigers a 2-0 advantage. Spencer Torkelson struck out to end the inning.

The Tigers added a run in the second inning. Colt Keith led off with a single to center field. Zach McKinstry then reached on a fielding error by Texas left fielder Alejandro Osuna, putting runners at second and third with no outs. Ben Malgeri grounded out to shortstop Ezequiel Duran, allowing Keith to score from third and making it 3-0. McKinstry moved to third on the play. James Outman grounded out to first base, and McGonigle walked before Dingler was hit by a pitch to load the bases. Carpenter flied out to center to end the threat.

Quantrill settled down after the second inning, allowing only one more hit over his five-inning outing. He gave up three hits and two earned runs while striking out two and walking one. The right-hander fell to 3-1 on the season.

Texas managed just three hits in the game, all coming against Flaherty. Joc Pederson singled in the first inning, Evan Carter singled in the fifth and Josh Jung doubled in the sixth. The Rangers never advanced a runner as far as third base. Flaherty worked around the hits with efficient pitching, inducing nine groundouts and four flyouts.

The Rangers put their best threat together in the sixth inning. After Joc Pederson struck out and Josh Smith flied out, Jung lined a double to center field. But Flaherty got Brandon Nimmo to ground out to second base to end the inning.

Montero entered in the seventh inning and retired the side in order, getting pinch-hitter Alejandro Osuna to fly out, Ezequiel Duran to ground out and Evan Carter to ground out. In the eighth, Montero induced three groundouts from Elias Díaz, Nicky Lopez and Pederson. He closed out the ninth by getting Josh Jung to ground out, Nimmo to fly out and Osuna to ground out.

Detroit’s offense managed six hits in the game. Greene finished 2-for-4 with the home run and two RBIs. Malgeri drove in the Tigers’ other run with his groundout in the second inning. Carpenter, Keith, Malgeri and McKinstry each had one hit for Detroit.

The Tigers improved to 39-50 with the win, while the Rangers dropped to 45-44. The game was completed in 2 hours, 22 minutes in front of an announced crowd of 37,576.

Flaherty’s outing was his second straight start in which he did not allow an earned run. On June 28 against Houston, he pitched five innings of two-hit shutout ball with nine strikeouts in a no-decision. In his two most recent starts, Flaherty has allowed no earned runs over 10 2/3 innings while striking out 14.

Quantrill, who entered the game with a 3-0 record and a 2.70 ERA, suffered his first loss of the season. He allowed two earned runs on three hits over five innings, walking one and striking out two. The Texas bullpen combined to throw four scoreless innings. Ben Peoples pitched two innings, allowing two hits and striking out one. Tyler Alexander worked a perfect eighth with two strikeouts, and Chris Martin pitched a scoreless ninth inning, allowing one hit and striking out one.

Detroit left fielder Riley Greene was the offensive star, delivering the game’s decisive blow with his two-run homer in the first inning. The blast was his 12th of the season and gave the Tigers an early lead that they never relinquished.

The victory snapped Detroit’s two-game losing streak and evened the four-game series at one win apiece after Texas won the opener 10-4 on Thursday. The Tigers had won four of their previous six games entering Saturday, including a series victory at New York against the Yankees from June 29 to July 1.

Texas had won five of its previous six games, including a three-game sweep of Toronto from June 25 to 27 and a series win at Cleveland from June 29 to July 1. The shutout loss was the Rangers’ first since June 6, when Cleveland blanked them 10-0 in Arlington.

The game marked the second meeting of the season between the two clubs. The Tigers and Rangers split a four-game series in Detroit from May 1-3, with Texas winning the opener 5-4 before Detroit took the final three games by scores of 5-1, 7-1 and 7-1.

Interstat’s game simulator had projected a final score of Texas Rangers 7, Detroit Tigers 4, while Interstat’s ELO system gave Texas a 56.20 percent probability of winning. Detroit was installed as a pregame favorite with a spread of minus-1.5. The total score of three runs went over the over-under line of eight.