Detroit – It felt like the race for the Central Division title began for real Saturday after the loss to the Angels shrunk the Tigers’ lead over the Cleveland Guardians to five games. Didn’t it?
“I don’t think it feels like anything,” Riley Greene said. “I think we need to take care of our business and get back to our normal selves and start winning baseball games.”
OK, then.
Race or no race, the Tigers absolutely took a step toward getting back to their normal selves Sunday, beating the Los Angeles Angels 9-5 in the rubber match of the three-game series before an announced crowd of 30,810 at Comerica Park.
“That’s nine runs and double-digit hits and a bunch of base runners and pretty good defense,” manager AJ Hinch said. “We’ve obviously tallied quite a few wins by playing that way. It feels good to have everybody, in their own way, contribute in some way to a win and a series win.”
Not that anyone wearing the Old English D was looking, but the Guardians lost 6-4 to the White Sox, so the Tigers finished the day with a six-game lead in the division.
“It’s always felt like a race,” Hinch said. “I don’t think anybody in our clubhouse has ever felt it wasn’t a race. … The urgency that comes with August and September is very natural, no matter what. We know how this has all come about.
“But we have treated it like a race the whole season, knowing it’s a 162-game contest of who can win the most games. We’ve got to continue to chip away because know the number of wins we have now is not enough.”
The Tigers, now at 68 wins, did what they were supposed to do against a struggling young pitcher Sunday. Right-hander Jack Kochanowicz came in with an ERA just under 6.00 and left with one over 6.00.
Kerry Carpenter set the tone and he did so both softly and powerfully.
With two out in the first inning, he threw an emergency hack on a two-strike sinker that nearly bounced in the dirt. He was able to roll it toward third base where there was no defender in sight.
“He made a pretty good pitch,” Carpenter said. “It felt like a strike for a long time. I got a little fortunate there.”
That double, on a ball hit so softly that Statcast didn’t register an exit velocity, opened the floodgates to a two-run inning.
Greene followed with an RBI single. Subsequent singles by Spencer Torkelson and Zach McKinstry produced another.
Carpenter made it 3-0 with a sacrifice fly in the second inning and then blew the game open with a towering three-run home run in a four-run fourth. He lofted a 2-0 changeup just over the fence in right. It was his career-high 21st homer.
“It’s been awesome,” Carpenter said. “Putting up a lot of runs is always fun as a lineup. Just seeing us put up good at-bats was great. Felt like ourselves today.”
In 12 games since coming off the injured list, Carpenter his hitting .361 with a .944 slugging percentage and has produced five homers and 13 RBI. But, he echoed Greene. If these are the dog days of a pennant race, the heat hasn’t penetrated the Tigers’ clubhouse.
“I don’t think so,” he said, when asked if these games are starting to take on more urgency. “It’s just how the season goes and we’re a good team. I think any outside noise is probably taking away from what we want to do and focus on. Collectively, we’re pretty focused on ourselves and if we take care of that, we’re going to be good.”
Greene extended the lead in the sixth against former Tiger right-hander Carson Fulmer. He lined a first-pitch curveball over the shorter wall in right field and down the tunnel. The two-run shot was his 27th and his first since July 29 (35 plate appearances).
“There were some encouraging things today that were a long time coming,” Hinch said. “Controlling the strike zone was excellent today on the offensive side (six walks). And then we did damage when we had them vulnerable. Carp got the big one and Greenie got one and we continued to put up good at-bats.”
Gleyber Torres was on base three times. The Tigers were 4 for 6 with runners in scoring position with a pair of two-out RBI knocks.
“It’s amazing how different our offense is when we can piece together at-bats,” Hinch said. “Then you see the first-to-thirds that you recognize from so many games this season. And that means you don’t have to be perfect. The next at-bat can be a sacrifice fly.”
The Tigers put Casey Mize in prime position to pick up his 11th win of the season.
“Yeah, you just want to throw strike one and have some quick innings and get the guys back in there,” said Mize, who went five innings and allowed three hits, one of them a two-run homer. “When we score early like that, it sets the tone for the game and makes it a lot easier for me, for sure.”
That’s not to say Mize didn’t have to make some big pitches. He went to three-ball counts on five hitters, which drove his pitch count up, and he had traffic in all but one inning. But he won most of the battles, stranding runners in scoring position in the first, third and fourth innings.
“It was fine,” Mize said. “I wish I could’ve given us more length than I did. But it was an overall fine day.”
The home run was maddening, though. With two outs in the fifth, Nolan Schanuel somehow got on top of a 1-2 heater that was well above the zone. Getting the bat on it was a feat. Hitting it out of the yard was impressive.
“That was frustrating,” said Mize, who along with Tarik Skubal are one of just three pitching duos with 11 wins in baseball.
The Angels scored a two-out run off Tommy Kahnle in the sixth and a pair of two-out runs off Rafael Montero on the eighth. And Luis Rengifo factored in both. He doubled and scored on a single by Logan O’Hoppe in the sixth and hit a two-run homer off Montero in the eighth.
But the Tigers boarded a happy flight to Chicago with an AL-best 39 home wins (tied with Boston) and the largest division lead in baseball. Not that any of them are looking at that.
“It’s that time of year and I know a lot of people are starting to track that,” Mize said. “But I think the best thing we can do is win today’s game and focus on what we’re doing. We do have to be a little sharper and win more series, which is why this obviously feels good. We need to keep it going.
“We like where we’re at but we’ve got to keep winning.”
@cmccosky
Want to comment on this story? Become a subscriber today. Click here.