DETROIT (AP) _ Brian Moehler wasn't completely happy with his victory over the Texas Rangers.

The Detroit right-hander on Tuesday night beat Texas 7-4, his first win since Comerica Park's inaugural game April 11 and his first victory in three starts since he had his appendix out April 22.

But Moehler (2-3) didn't like the way his 5 2-3 innings ended. He was cruising with a 5-0 lead, a three-hitter and had faced just one batter over the minimum through five innings before the Rangers knocked him out with a three-run sixth.

``I felt like I had a good game plan for five innings, then I just kind of got away from it,'' Moehler said. ``I'd rather give up three runs in the first inning and then cruise than three runs in the sixth. That's what I'm going to remember.''

Moehler gave up three runs and seven hits. He is 5-2 lifetime against the Rangers.

``I've always thought he was a good pitcher,'' the Rangers' Rafael Palmeiro said. ``He throws the ball inside, outside. It sinks, it cuts. He changes speeds well so it keeps you off balance. That's really the key for a pitcher to have success is to have the timing of the hitter off and that's what he does so well.''

The Tigers won for just the second time in six games. They again played without former Rangers star Juan Gonzalez, who missed his second straight game with a strained left foot.

But another ex-Ranger more than made up for his absence. Dean Palmer went 3-for-4 with a home run and five RBIs.

It was Palmer's biggest game against the Rangers, who traded him to Kansas City in 1997. He signed as a free agent with Detroit before last season.

Palmer hit a three-run homer in the third after a sacrifice fly in the first, and he added an RBI single in the seventh.

``I'm not going to lie to you and say it's not exciting,'' he said. ``It's not a bad feeling.''

The second through fifth batters in the Tigers lineup scored all seven runs and were 10-for-15 with six RBIs.

``We were having some better at-bats and doing some things with men on base,'' Palmer said.

Palmer's homer was the Tigers' first with two on since Palmer did it April 16 against Tampa Bay. It was an opposite-field shot that was just fair down the right-field line.

``Every year when he gets hot, that's what he does,'' Tigers manager Phil Garner said. ``When he's swinging the bat well, he hits the other way.''

The Tigers didn't score any runs for Moehler in his previous two starts, but jumped on Esteban Loaiza (3-3) for five runs after three innings.

``We got some timely hits, which helped,'' Moehler said.

Danny Patterson, sent to Detroit in the nine-player deal that included Gonzalez, pitched 2 2-3 innings. He left after allowing an RBI single to Chad Curtis in the ninth.

Todd Jones got the final out for his 14th save in 15 chances.

Texas is 3-5 on a nine-game road trip that ends Thursday and has lost five of seven since a seven-game winning streak.

Loaiza, who had his last two starts, allowed five runs and 10 hits in five-plus innings. He said he thought the baseballs were more slippery than usual.

``I asked some of the relievers if they felt the same way and they said yes: slippery and no grip,'' Loaiza said. ``The more I rubbed them, I couldn't get nothing out of them.''

Notes: Tigers INF Gregg Jefferies is expected to miss at least a month with a severe left hamstring pull he suffered legging out an infield hit Monday. He went on the DL Tuesday and was replaced on the 25-man roster by C Javier Cardona, who was recalled from Triple-A Toledo. ... RHP Francisco Cordero was the first of the nine players involved in the Tigers-Rangers trade to appear in the series when he relieved Loaiza in the sixth. ... Palmer's club-leading 10th homer leaves Minnesota as the only major league team without a double-digit home run hitter.