DETROIT -- The Detroit Tigers witnessed firsthand Thursday night why the Texas Rangers ponied up big money to acquire Japanese star Yu Darvish.

In an early series matchup of division leaders, the Tigers managed only two hits in 6 1/3 innings off the right-handed Darvish in a 10-3 series-opening blowout by the Rangers.

Making his third major league start, Darvish held the Tigers to a .095 combined batting average and matched a season-high five strikeouts, despite working on four days’ rest.

“Sometimes, it’s just not your day,” manager Jim Leyland said.

Including the posting fee, the Rangers paid more than $111 million to sign Darvish, who agreed to a six-year, $60 million deal in January.

The Tigers probably have a better understanding as to why Texas took a gamble.

“He looks like he has a little late life through his fastball and a pretty good repertoire of pitches,” Leyland said of Darvish, who relied heavily on a firm fastball early on before mixing in his slider and curveball.

Detroit (9-4) was limited to one extra-base hit off Darvish, a double by Delmon Young in the fourth inning that advanced Prince Fielder to third after his leadoff walk.

Don Kelly drove in Fielder -- the club’s lone run off Darvish -- on a sacrifice groundout. Kelly, making his second start in left field, matched a career high with three RBIs.

“(Darvish) was tough, but we should’ve scored more runs,” infielder Ramon Santiago said. “We had a couple opportunities and we didn’t execute."

The club added two throwaway runs in the eighth on Kelly's two-run single after Miguel Cabrera and Fielder hit back-to-back singles.

"Whenever they give you a chance against a team like Texas and you know they’re going to score, you have to score those runs to beat them," Santiago said.

It was the third straight game Cabrera has registered a base hit after going hitless in 22 at-bats.

Texas blew the door open in the eighth with five runs off left-hander Daniel Schlereth, whose 3.60 ERA imploded to 12.60, before Duane Below induced an inning-ending popout.

“We just couldn’t stop them,” Leyland said. “When they hit it hard, it was a hit and when they didn’t hit it hard, it was a hit.”

The loss snapped the Tigers’ four-game win streak and gave Texas (11-2) its seventh consecutive win.

It was the first meeting between the two teams since Nelson Cruz carried Texas past the Tigers in the ALCS. Cruz, the reigning ALCS MVP, went 3-for-6 with two RBIs.

Texas and Detroit entered their series with the highest and second-highest batting average in the American League, but it was mostly the Rangers that did the hitting Thursday.

Texas recorded a season-high 19 hits with seven of the club's starting nine having registered at least two hits apiece. The Tigers, meanwhile, were limited to five -- their fewest output this season.

“We know (Texas) is a very good team,” Leyland said. “It’s a solid lineup with a lot of depth through it, but they’re in the same league we are, so we’re going to have to play them.”

Making his second career start, left-hander Adam Wilk gave up three runs -- two earned -- in four innings. Despite giving up 10 hits, only one went for extra bases -- a solo home run off the bat of Mike Napoli that gave the Rangers an early 2-0 lead.

“That’s a real tough lineup, particularly for a real young pitcher and particularly for a left-hander,” Leyland said. “He was dodging some bullets, obviously, giving up a lot of hits.”

It was Napoli's fourth homer in as many games.

The Rangers wouldn’t relinquish it after they tacked on two runs in the fifth, highlighted by two errors that led to both runs being unearned.

“I tried to get as many groundballs as I could,” Wilk said. “I was able to that, but they just found holes. Sometimes, that’s what happens and they all happened tonight.”

Cabrera’s no-out error in the fifth snapped an 11-game errorless streak for the Tigers, who entered Thursday’s game with the second-best fielding percentage (.993) in the American League.

The error followed Wilk’s leadoff walk to Josh Hamilton, which led to the 24-year-old's exit. Hamilton scored two batters later on Santiago’s fielding error.

Prior to Thursday’s game, the Tigers had committed only three errors in 12 games.

“We just got beat up,” Leyland said. “It’s one of those where you just turn the page and come back tomorrow.”

-- Follow James Schmehl on Twitter: @jamesschmehl.