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    • Kerry Carpenter’s explosion ignites Detroit Tigers, evens ALDS vs. Guardians
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    Kerry Carpenter’s explosion ignites Detroit Tigers, evens ALDS vs. Guardians

    Idris Bevan Posted on

    Cleveland — The magic continues.

    Kerry Carpenter, who had two ons and two outs to start the ninth inning, hit a 2-2 slider deep into the right field seats off All-Star closer Emmanuel Clase, breaking a scoreless tie and sending the best-of-five die The American League Division Series return to Detroit ended in a 1-1 tie with a 3-0 victory over the Cleveland Guardians, delighting a sellout crowd at Progressive Field on Monday.

    BOX score: Tigers 3, Guardians 0

    Clase, narrowly escaping the eighth, got the first two outs in the ninth before Jake Rogers and Trey Sweeney, the No. 8-9 hitters in the lineup, ripped singles.

    Carpenter, who was not in the starting lineup against left-hander Matthew Boyd, even scored a 2-2 equalizer. He saw three straight sliders from Clase. The third one remained in the middle of the plate and Carpenter destroyed it. The ball left his bat at 110.8 miles per hour and traveled 423 feet.

    Those were the Tigers’ first runs of the series.

    Right-hander Beau Brieske made the save in the bottom of the ninth.

    Tarik Skubal was once again an absolute beast on the mound for the Tigers. He pitched seven scoreless innings and allowed three hits with eight strikeouts. He hasn’t allowed a run in 27 straight innings.

    He was perfect for 4.1 innings, striking out the Guardians’ first 13 hitters and striking out eight of them.

    In the fifth round he briefly got into trouble. Josh Naylor hit a 97 mph four-seater into the right-center gap for a double. Skubal then hit Jhonkensy Noel with a pitch that was almost a strike. Noel’s arm was stretched across the plate.

    The sellout crowd at Progressive Field was on its feet, booing and jeering at Skubal. He was unimpressed. He got Andres Gimenez on the very next pitch to jump into an inning-ending 4-6-3 double play.

    Skubal stomped and screamed back to the dugout.

    He ran into trouble again in the sixth. No. 9 hitter Brayan Rocchio bounced the ball over the sack at third for a double with one out, and Steven Kwan followed with a jam shot single to left.

    But here too, Skubal was undeterred. He triggered another double, this time on a softly hit grounder from David Fry. Shortstop Trey Sweeney and second baseman Colt Keith made a quick and textbook turn.

    This time, as Skubal walked back to the dugout, he held out his arms and appeared to implore the crowd to bring it.

    It was an incredible achievement, especially considering the fact that this was a must-win game and he was working with zero margin for error.

    He relied heavily on his four-seam and sinker (66% of his throws). He had 17 calls strikes with those two pitches, along with seven whiffs in 12 swings with his changeup.

    Boyd, the former Tiger, was at his best for 4.2 innings, turning away two big scoring chances. Rookie Justyn-Henry Malloy, batting leadoff, singled in the third inning and was tied for third with two outs after a walk and long fly out by Andy Ibanez.

    Boyd got Riley Greene to come to second on a pitch.

    Wenceel Perez led off the fourth with a double and went to third with one out. But Boyd struck out Parker Meadows, who was chasing a slider, and then struck out his old battery mate Jake Rogers with a 93 mph fastball.

    Malloy blasted a single into the right field corner in the fifth, but was ejected by a strong throw from Noel as he tried to turn it into a double.

    Boyd, in just his ninth start since returning from Tommy John surgery, flashed a lively four-seam fastball (92-94 mph) that set up his changeup (seven hits in 11 swings) and slider. He struck out five.

    The Tigers didn’t get another base runner until the seventh, when Rogers drew a two-out walk. Matt Vierling hit a one-out double off reliever Hunter Gaddis in the eighth, the Tigers’ first hit from the Cleveland bullpen in seven innings of this series.

    But after two outs, Guardians manager Stephen Vogt called Clase in.

    Perez hit a sinking liner to left. Kwan had a good jump on the ball and made a diving catch just before the ball hit the ground. Replays confirmed he had caught it.

    Statcast and the website Inside Edge both gave Kwan a one in 10 chance of making the catch.

    Close, but another empty inning for the Tigers offense. At that point, they had only scored in three of 35 innings in the postseason.

    That would change an inning later.

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    @cmccosky

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    Idris Bevan
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