Detroit – It almost felt fated.
“We had the right guy up at the plate at the right time and he got the right pitch and we got the right outcome,” manager AJ Hinch said afterward.
It was looking like the Tigers were going to get beat by a starting pitcher who had amassed the most losses (11) and allowed the most earned runs (61) in baseball Monday night.
Coming home after taking three of four from the Central Division-leading Twins at Target Field, they were handcuffed for six innings by beleaguered right-hander Jordan Lyles and trailed 4-1.
Everything changed in the seventh. The Tigers scored five runs, three on one impressive swing by Kerry Carpenter, beating the Kansas City Royals, 6-4, at Comerica Park.
“He’s always ready to hit,” catcher Jake Rogers said. “It was a big spot for one of our best hitters.”
If the Tigers’ hitters lacked focus earlier in the game against Lyle, which they did, they were locked in tight in the seventh.
“The focus shifted in our direction in a good way,” Hinch said.
Miguel Cabrera, who had a pair of hits, and Jonathan Schoop knocked Lyles out of the game with a single and double to start the seventh.
Against right-handed reliever Taylor Clarke, Rogers ripped a two-strike, two-run single to left field. After Zach McKinstry walked, Carpenter, with two outs, leaned into a 2-2 changeup and sent it on a high arc just inside the foul pole in right field.
“Just get a good pitch to hit,” Carpenter told Bally Sports Detroit on the field after the win. “I knew they might throw me some off-speed pitches and try to get a ground ball or something. I just tried to see it up and put a good swing on it. He left it up and over the middle of the plate.”
His sixth homer of the season, second in two days, sent the Tigers’ dugout into a frenzy.
“That’s my favorite part of the whole thing,” Carpenter said. “Watching those guys. I’m doing it for those guys.”
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There was work to be done, though.
Lefty reliever Tyler Alexander, pitching in somewhat unfamiliar territory, put up zeros in the seventh and eighth innings.
“I was juiced that he gave me the eighth inning, too,” said Alexander who struck out four in his two innings, including freezing MJ Melendez with a 91-mph sinker with a runner at third and one out in the eight. “After the game I said (to Hinch), ‘You actually pitched me while we were winning!’
“He laughed.”
Before the game, Hinch said he’d told right-hander Alex Lange that he couldn’t wait to give him the ball again. Lange had endured a disastrous eighth inning in Minnesota Sunday in which he hit two batters, walked two others and gave up three runs without getting an out.
Hinch gave him the ball in the ninth Monday and Lange pitched a clean inning to earn his 11th save.
“He was great and he’s going to be great,” Hinch said. “The peaks and valleys of players in general, but back-end relievers especially − you’ve got to have a short memory. Because that next day you’re going to need everything you’ve got to get through another game.
“I never had a doubt in Alex. It’s tough when you see these guys go through it emotionally, but I was going to race him back to the mound.”
After the Tigers used their bullpen to cover two full nine-inning games against the Twins, rookie right-hander Reese Olson was tasked with eating innings Monday. He did more than that. He produced a quality start, going six innings and allowing three earned runs with eight strikeouts.
“He hung in there mentally,” Hinch said. “I don’t know how much he knew how much we needed the length, but he responded with some really calm, professional innings at the beginning.”
Olson was victimized by a couple of home run balls, both in the fourth inning. Bobby Witt, Jr., jumped a 1-1 fastball (94 mph) and sent it 442 feet deep into the left field seats. Olson walked Melendez and with two outs Maikel Garcia drove a first-pitch slider into the seats in left.
“I think I threw the ball well,” said Olson, who induced 15 swinging strikes and 20 called strikes. “The solo homers, those are going to happen. The little back-up slider for the two-run homer, but I got through six.”
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Since coming off the injured list, Carpenter is hitting .394 (15 for 38) with two doubles, two homers and five RBI.
“He’s an offensive-minded player who is always pretty locked in,” Hinch said. “Part of having a slow heartbeat is the focus. To be honest, we didn’t have great focus at the beginning of the game. But as the game got underway and we started to get more momentum, we really locked in.
“Kerry is going to take good swings, good passes, at good pitches. He battled that whole at-bat and when he hit it, we willed it fair. That calmness that’s over him in his everyday life carries over onto the field. Like I said, right guy, right spot.”
As for Lyles, he didn’t get the loss. But he now has the distinction of being the only pitcher in the modern era whose team has lost his first 15 starts. He’s 0-11 and the team is 0-15 in his starts.
chris.mccosky@detroitnews.com
Twitter: @cmccosky