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Kerry Carpenter slugs 2 HR for 4-3 win, giving Detroit Tigers AL wild-card lead
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- Kerry Carpenter slugs 2 HR for 4-3 win, giving Detroit Tigers AL wild-card lead
BALTIMORE — Not once but twice.
Kerry Carpenter powered the Detroit Tigers in Sunday's series finale against the Baltimore Orioles , as the 27-year-old slugger crushed two home runs for the third time this season and the fifth time in his three-year MLB career.
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The second homer from Carpenter provided the go-ahead run in the sixth inning. After the homer, the Tigers fended off the Orioles in the final four innings for a 4-3 win in Sunday's finale, taking two of three games in the series.
"It means the world," Carpenter said. "What makes it a lot better is when you can do it for the team. ... It's a collective effort, but it's fun to help out the team like that."
Detroit Tigers outfielder Kerry Carpenter (30) celebrates at home plate after hitting a sixth inning solo home run against the Baltimore Orioles at Oriole Park at Camden Yards in Baltimore on Sunday, Sept. 22, 2024.
The Tigers (82-74) — winners in 27 of their past 38 games — passed Minnesota Twins for the third spot in the American League wild-card race after the Twins lost both games of their doubleheader against the Boston Red Sox. The Tigers also tied the Kansas City Royals in the wild-card standings.
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Both the Royals and Twins have the head-to-head tiebreaker over the Tigers, but the Tigers control their own playoff destiny now that they have a lead over the Twins.
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"We're working our tail off to get the results we're getting," manager A.J. Hinch said. "I'm proud of this effort. But we still have a long way to go. We're going to stay grounded."
There are six games remaining for the Tigers, whose magic number to clinch a playoff berth dropped to six with the victory and Twins losses. On top of that, the Tigers clinched their first winning season since 2016 , all while trying make the playoffs for the first time since 2014 .
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"We never really thought of it," Carpenter said. "We just kept winning games. That's what we'll keep doing. We're not going to grasp at anything or chase anything. We're just going to go out there and play like we can play, and when we do that, we play well."
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Carpenter, hitting .290 with 17 homers in 82 games, pulled both solo home runs to right field off right-hander Albert Suárez in back-to-back plate appearances, in the third and sixth innings.
In the third, Carpenter put the Tigers ahead 3-0 by hitting a middle-middle changeup for a 376-foot home run. In the sixth, Carpenter put the Tigers ahead 4-3 by hitting an up-and-in fastball for a 361-foot home run.
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"I don't think you can expect a two-homer game," Hinch said, "but I think you can expect him to go up and be super dangerous and give us a chance to change the scoreboard. ... You can't say that you expect it to happen, but you're not surprised when it does."
In the final four innings, the Tigers kept the Orioles from scoring with relief efforts from right-hander Brenan Hanifee (1⅓ innings), righty Will Vest (1⅔ innings) and righty Jason Foley (one inning).
It wasn't easy.
In the seventh, Hanifee struck out Cedric Mullins swinging to strand two runners in scoring position. In the eighth, Vest retired Anthony Santander (strikeout) and Colton Cowser (flyout) to strand a runner on second base.
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Foley struggled in Saturday's win, in which the Tigers needed extra innings, but he redeemed himself Sunday with a scoreless ninth inning to secure the win, notching his 26th save.
He struck out Gunnar Henderson — the best player on the Orioles' roster — to end the game.
"It's a spot that none of us have been in before," Foley said, referencing the playoff race. "It should be a fun plane ride. We got some football to look forward to after a nice win. Hopefully, everyone can just relax a little bit, take their mind off ball a little bit and regather themselves and get back at it."
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Parker Meadows robs
Center fielder Parker Meadows went 0-for-4 at the plate, but he used his glove to save two runs (and keep the game tied at 3-all) in the fifth inning, as he has done so many times before in the Tigers' postseason push.
"My job is to go and get every ball," Meadows said.
Detroit Tigers catcher Jake Rogers and pitcher Jason Foley shake hands after the Tigers win 4-3 at Oriole Park at Camden Yards in Baltimore on Sunday, Sept. 22, 2024.
Earlier in the fifth, Mullins hit a two-run home run and Jordan Westberg hit an RBI double, scoring all three runs against right-handed reliever Ty Madden.
Meadows, though, robbed Colton Cowser of a two-run home run in center field for the third out in the fifth. The ball traveled 395 feet off Cowser's bat, but Meadows jumped at the wall, reached his glove out and brought the ball back into the field of play.
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"We're vibing here," Meadows said. "There's such good chemistry on this team. We're having a lot of fun. We have each other's backs. It's fun, for sure."
Spencer Torkelson pulls home run
Spencer Torkelson kickstarted the Tigers with two outs in the second inning.
The 2020 No. 1 overall draft pick received a pitch that he should've crushed and didn't miss, pulling Suárez's middle-middle cutter over the wall in the left-field corner for a solo home run and a 1-0 lead.
Detroit Tigers first baseman Spencer Torkelson (20) hits a solo homerun against the Baltimore Orioles during the second inning at Oriole Park at Camden Yards in Baltimore on Sunday, Sept. 22, 2024.
It was Torkelson's ninth homer in 86 games.
Contact Evan Petzold at epetzold@freepress.com or follow him @EvanPetzold .
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This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Detroit Tigers move into wild-card spot with 4-3 win over Orioles
