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ARLINGTON, Texas (Ticker) -- It took one inning for Rick Helling to realize he was still in a slump. Helling allowed homers to Dean Palmer and Juan Encarnacion in a five-run first inning and lost for the fifth time this season as the Texas Rangers suffered their fifth straight loss, 9-4 to the Detroit Tigers. "It's amazing the way things are going right now," Helling said. "It's just snowballing." Helling (1-5) came in with a 6-4 career mark against Detroit but departed having tied Baltimore's Jose Mercedes for the American League lead in losses. He settled down considerably after the first inning but by that time, it was too late. "That first inning killed me," Helling said. "Then I made some adjustments and it got better. I realize I can't take one inning away. I know I pitched poorly." Roger Cedeno led off with a single and Tony Clark drew a two-out walk before Palmer, a former Ranger, belted a 2-0 pitch 415 feet over the left-center field fence for a 3-0 lead. "I guess it's satisfying to have good games here," Palmer said. "A few years ago, it probably meant more. I don't think about it too much. The biggest thing about the homer is that it takes the pressure off the starting pitcher. It's important to give him an early lead." Deivi Cruz followed with a triple and Encarnacion launched a 1-0 offering 403 feet to left, making it 5-0. "In the first inning, it could have been no runs," Helling said. "Palmer hits a home run, then Encarnacion hits a pitch he's not supposed to hit according to scouting reports." It was the third homer of the season for Palmer and Encarnacion, who each drove in two runs in Wednesday's win. They each scored twice in this one. Helling lasted seven innings, his longest outing of the season. The righthander gave up six runs, nine hits and three walks and has allowed at least four earned runs in all but one of his seven starts. His ERA climbed to 8.01. The first-inning outburst was enough for Dave Mlicki (2-2), who has won two straight starts. The righthander pitched to the score somewhat as he allowed four runs, seven hits and a walk in eight innings. "Coming out with a five-run lead in the first was a big lift," he said. "It makes it a lot easier knowing we can make a mistake and it won't hurt us too much. You don't want to relax so much that you allow the other team to jump back into the game." But Mlicki struck out nine, one shy of his career high set with the New York Mets vs. Florida on August 7, 1995. "I was throwing strikes and if you don't do that against them it will be a long day," Mlicki said. "I was getting the breaking stuff over and that helped a lot. C.J. Nitkowski pitched the ninth as the Tigers ran their winning streak to a season-high four games with their first three-game sweep at Texas since August 14-16, 1992. "As the game went on, Mlicki got stronger," Tigers manager Phil Garner said. "He had good location all day. I had to bring C.J. in just because he needed to get some work." Texas has lost five in a row for the first time since September 22-27 of last season. "One pitch, one hit, we need something to build some confidence," Rangers manager John Oates said. "We need some of those games where we're putting eight or nine runs on the board and holding the other team to zero." In an immediate hole, the Rangers pecked away. Rafael Palmeiro stroked a two-run double in the bottom of the first and Alex Rodriguez singled home a run in the third. Doug Mirabelli, who has become the starting catcher due to the heel bruise that disabled star Ivan Rodriguez, belted his second homer of the season in the fourth and the Rangers were within a run. But Cruz, who had two hits, doubled home Palmer in the fifth and Cedeno hit a three-run homer off Jeff Brantley in the eighth to rebuild the five-run lead. Cedeno stroked three hits and Palmer, who came in batting .176, added two. Clark, who walked twice, was the only Tigers starter without a hit. "It's not our hitting, it's the Rangers' pitching," Tigers outfielder Bobby Higginson said. "It's not like we're facing the Yanklees' pitching staff. We just did what everyone else has been doing. We did what we were supposed to do." Texas' Gabe Kapler had two hits and scored twice, raising his average to .406.
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