Carpenter's dramatic HR clinches class in 9th as 'never quit' Tigers force ALDS tie

CLEVELAND — When Kerry Carpenter stepped to home plate after his three-run homer from Guardians closer Emmanuel Claes broke a scoreless deadlock in the ninth, the Tigers' slugger pounded his chest and raised his arms to the sky. It was gratitude from a man of faith, but it was raw emotion and theater from a Tiger team that has majored in drama for nearly two months.

“I don't know if I can describe it,” Carpenter said after the 3-0 victory that evened the American League Division Series at one game apiece. “Yeah, I knew it going in, and it was just an amazing feeling to be able to come out for this team, because our pitchers have been hitting us like crazy in these games.”

More importantly, they are keeping them in this series, which has now become a golden opportunity. After silencing hostile crowds in Houston and Cleveland and winning three of four in two stops, the Tigers will take the series to Comerica Park for Detroit's first postseason game in a decade, games Wednesday afternoon and Thursday evening.

Win both, and the Tigers will advance to the AL Championship Series for the first time since 2013. Win one, and they'll have Tarik Skubal — the author of 24 consecutive scoreless innings dating back to mid-September — waiting to return with a winner-takes-all Game 5 in Cleveland on Saturday.

Under the current 2-2-1 format, when a division series is tied after two games, the team heading home for Games 3-4 wins the series 29 of 44 times (66%).

“We have two games in place now,” manager AJ Hinch said. “We know it's going to be electric. We know Detroit has waited a really long time for a playoff game. We're going to get both of them, and have a chance to take control of this series.”

Monday's script suits the Tigers here. Skubal shut out the Guardians for seven innings, pitching a scoreless game deep into Cleveland's evening and giving his teammates a chance to win with a big swing. They were so close early in the game and didn't get it, getting enough, from former teammate Matthew Boyd's big outs in the third and fourth to Steven Cowan's diving catch to Wencel Perez's go-ahead single in the eighth. His glove under the ball to withstand replay review.

It could be a crushing blow. Instead, it was a major blow in delay.

“That's what I love about this team: We never give up,” Perez said. “If we don't get it in one inning, we're going to get it in the next. It's part of the mindset we have here and it's amazing.”

A big hit was still needed after Will Vest followed Skubal with a clean inning of relief, helped by Parker Meadows' leaping catch to steal Kyle Manzardo's extra base over the left-field wall.

They got the ninth biggest hit against baseball's most dominant closer.

“I've said it all year: If Rogue can do it in the eight/nine-hole, anybody can,” said Jake Rogers, whose two-out bouncer to left kept the ninth inning alive before leading off Trey Sweeney's gapper. the carpenter

“I don't know what it is about us, but we like to score eighth or ninth.”

Carpenter stepped to the plate with the Tigers having a 50.1 percent chance to win, according to Statcast. Anyone would be forgiven for feeling less than 50-50 given the class.

Like Andy Ibanez, Carpenter started the game on the bench before Josh Hader's three-run double led off Houston to end the Wild Card series on Wednesday. He pinch hit in the eighth against Hunter Gaddis and hit a huge pop fly behind the plate for the out. He was waiting for another shot.

“I wanted an opportunity,” Carpenter said, “and those guys put together great swings, because there probably haven't been many innings this year that Claes has given up two hits in one inning, let alone three.”

Carpenter fouled out a 2-0 cutter at 100.6 mph. He saw three sliders in a row from there — whiffing on one for strike two, fouling off another to raise the bat and then getting one over the plate.

“I wasn't sitting on it,” Carpenter said, “but I was just in time for his hardest pitch, that cutter, and I was zoning it to start in a certain zone.” My instincts took over, and he missed a spot, so I took advantage of that.”

“It was an unbelievable at-bat,” Rodgers said. “I knew that if [Carpenter] Something came down the middle of the plate, he was going to hit it hard. He just looked comfortable from the first pitch, and he struggled with a few pitches and it paid off.

“I had an incredible view of it. When he hit, I was probably screaming at the top of my lungs jumping down the third-base line. It was fun, man. And all of that Kerry. He's done it for us all year.

“I was in the weight room doing post-throw stuff, and what a swing,” Skubal said. “I was on the ground, and I think that's the fastest I've ever been up in my life.”

The only noise as Carpenter dashed around the bases was the roar of Tiger fans who made the short drive. They will thunder come Wednesday. This is Detroit's reward for silencing the crowds in Houston and Cleveland.

“Those fans are so loud, crazy, every pitch,” Matt Vierling said. “We were able to overcome that, I really think that's something we can lean on moving forward.”