DETROIT -- Scott Baker didn't try to make excuses or even attempt to pat himself on the back for lasting six innings against one of the best lineups in the game.

Baker knew his effort -- six runs and eight hits in a 7-2 loss -- wasn't good enough to keep the Texas Rangers in the game, especially with Anibal Sanchez on the mound for the Detroit Tigers.

"It's all about pitch execution," Baker said. "And for the most part, balls that were hits were not well-executed pitches."

Even many of Baker's outs were of the loud variety, hit to the deepest parts of Comerica Park. Baker's outing seemed to slip away starting shortly after Mitch Moreland's two-run double in the second gave Texas a 2-0 lead. Baker walked the first hitter in the bottom of the second, Victor Martinez, on four straight pitches.

"That's not something you want to do," Rangers manager Ron Washington said.

With one out and Martinez on first, Austin Jackson blasted on off-speed pitch over the wall in left field, and the Tigers had quickly tied it.

Baker couldn't keep the ball down and the Tigers made him pay. Consecutive doubles to start the third gave Detroit a lead they would not relinquish. They added two runs in the fifth and another in the sixth.

Tigers second baseman Ian Kinsler had a great day against his former team, mashing three doubles -- including two the opposite way -- and scored runs after all three of them. Andrew Romine also got his first career home run, hitting the foul pole in right in the sixth inning.

"For the most part, I was doing damage control," Baker said. "But it really hurts when those guys continue to get on inning after inning."

The question now is whether Baker will make a start against his former team, the Twins, next week. Joe Saunders has been throwing and has said he's ready to rejoin the rotation after rehabbing from the stress fracture in his left ankle that occurred on April 4 in Tampa, Florida. Saunders could be an option to take Baker's place next week, though no decision has been made.

Mitch Moreland accounted for both of the Rangers' runs, hitting a two-run double in the second. He also made a nice defensive play with a scoop of a bad throw by Elvis Andrus. But it wasn't enough as the Tigers jumped on Baker and didn't let up.