ARLINGTON -- Eduardo Rodriguez hasn’t regained his usual form just yet, but he showed he’s getting closer in the Tigers’ 11-2 win against the Rangers on Saturday at Globe Life Field.

Rodriguez, who was reinstated from the restricted list on Aug. 19 after three dominant rehab starts between Single-A Lakeland and Triple-A Toledo that saw the left-hander put up a combined 22 strikeouts and two earned runs in 14 innings, picked up his second consecutive win to follow up a five-inning start in Detroit's 4-0 shutout against Shohei Ohtani and the Angels on Sunday.

“We couldn't have scripted a better return-to-play for him,” manager A.J. Hinch said pregame. “With all the emotions that come with it, and also just the sheer number of days he was away from the Major League level. He did a nice job [in his return].”

More than two months had passed since Rodriguez -- who was placed on the restricted list on June 13 to tend to a personal matter -- made his return to the mound. At the time of Rodriguez’s sudden departure, he was working his way back from a left rib cage strain that landed him on the IL on May 19.

Rodriguez kept in shape and continued to throw while away from the team, so that come time to report to the Tigers’ Spring Training facility in Lakeland, Fla., he was able to quickly return to Major League form.

Now two starts removed from his return, Rodriguez is building on that form to get back to his usual self. The left-hander has only allowed one extra-base hit (a double to Andrew Velazquez on Sunday against the Angels) and one run in 11 innings. Each of the six hits he surrendered to the Rangers on Saturday were singles.

“I feel like today was one of those lucky days; the days where you feel glad that you have that kind of defense behind you,” Rodriguez said.

After allowing the top of Texas’ order to reach via two walks and a base hit -- which helped the Rangers score their first run of the game in the first inning -- Rodriguez quickly worked his way out of a jam with runners at the corners and no outs. All it took was four pitches.

He used the first three -- two cutters and a sinker -- to freeze Adolis García. The last pitch was a four-seamer to Jonah Heim that induced a double play. Then, Rodriguez turned in five scoreless innings to polish off his outing with a final line of six innings, six hits, one earned run, three walks and two strikeouts.

“I just liked how he had to battle a little bit,” Hinch said. “He wasn’t perfectly sharp. He wasn’t maybe at his best, but he did enough to keep us right where we were at. We kept scoring for him, [and] he could sink in a little bit and do his part. So, just his continual focus tonight was nice to see.”

Just like it had against the Angels, the run support that followed Saturday helped Rodriguez to seal his second win in as many starts. Every starter reached base, and eight Tigers notched multi-hit games as the offense strung together 18 hits -- the team’s third-most hits this season behind 20 against Colorado on April 23 and 19 against the Rangers on June 18. 

“Offensively, that was a long time coming, and we put up some really good at-bats and continued to attack,” Hinch said. “A lot of guys had big nights, which is fun for everyone.”

On the other hand, perhaps one of the best defensive highlights from the night was Rodriguez’s four-pitch fifth inning. He used the same four pitches that got him out of the first inning -- two cutters, a sinker and a four-seamer -- to work out of the fifth inning, retiring Bubba Thompson, Marcus Semien and Corey Seager in order with two groundouts and a popup.

Innings like that don’t happen very often, so Rodriguez made it a point to enjoy the result. That inning was a reminder that he’s not far from his usual form, but overall, there’s still more ramping up to be done.

“He should be back into normal form pretty soon,” Hinch said. “We’re going to be careful with it because we want him to make every start along the way and not have any setbacks. We don’t have time for any sort of issue, so we’ll build him up accordingly.”

“I’m gonna get better start by start, and that’s my plan,” Rodriguez added.