‘IT’S A GOOD TIME TO BE IN DETROIT’

Kerry Carpenter helps spark Tigers in 4-2 win over Rangers

Tough game.

On yet another day when the Tigers struggled mightily to produce any kind of offense, Kerry Carpenter slammed a 414-foot triple in the second inning and a game-tying RBI double off the left-field wall in the sixth. But when his next turn to bat came around, manager AJ Hinch called him back to the dugout and sent up Matt Vierling to pinch-hit.

“I trust Vierling,” Carpenter said. “Everybody trusts Vierling. And we trust AJ with the lineup. Vierling tends to get it done. So, I love it.”

Vierling and Gio Urshela, both right-handed hitters, slapped opposite-field singles to right field off lefty reliever Jacob Latz and the Tigers broke a 2-2 tie and beat the Texas Rangers 4-2 before a small crowd of 10,377 at Comerica Park Tuesday.

“We all are accepting our roles well,” Carpenter said. “That’s the way it should be. If we can tagteam a game, then that’s good. Hey, we love going three for four out of the four hole.”

This was the fourth game this season the Tigers won after trailing in the sixth, seventh or eighth inning. They are 7-2 in games decided by one or two runs. And they are doing that despite some severe offensive struggles.

“We were all as a team watching the Red Wings last night,” Hinch said of the Wings’ dramatic overtime win against Montreal. “So we took a page out of their playbook and waited until the very end and made everyone nervous and then came through with the win.

“It’s a good time to be in Detroit.”

Playing all 27 outs is becoming more than a cliche. It’s becoming a character trait.

“Sometimes you wish you could win big every now and then,” joked starting pitcher Casey Mize, who in his first start at Comerica Park since April 9, 2022 allowed just two runs in six innings. “But it’s all the emotions of baseball and we’ve experienced them a lot. That’s what makes it fun. Coming out on this side of it is good.

“In the DNA of good teams, winning close games is important. We’re doing a good job of that.”

The tag-team approach in the eighth came about because Rangers’ manager Bruce Bochy wanted no part of seeing lefty-swinging Carpenter bat against righthanded reliever and former Tiger Jose Urena, even though Urena had struck out three in 1.2 innings.

So with two outs and Zach McKinstry on first base, Bochy summoned the only lefty in his

PHOTOS BY CARLOS OSORIO — THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Detroit Tigers’ Zach McKinstry crosses home plate to score during the sixth inning of a baseball game against the Texas Rangers, Tuesday, in Detroit.

Detroit Tigers pitcher Casey Mize throws during the second inning of a baseball game against the Texas Rangers, Tuesday, in Detroit.

Detroit Tigers’ Matt Vierling scores from third on a wild pass by Texas Rangers pitcher Jacob Latz, right, during the eighth inning of a baseball game, Tuesday, in Detroit.