Tigers squander early lead, denied sweep by the Cardinals
Kerry Carpenter hit a two-run homer to stake the Tigers to an early 2-0 lead, but the Cardinals rallied back to win, 5-3, on Sunday night.
Detroit — A sweep looked to be in the cards for the Tigers, until it wasn't. The Cardinals scored four times in the fifth inning, helped out with a throwing error by reliever Enmanuel De Jesus, and they beat the Tigers, 5-3, on a chilly, windy Sunday night at Comerica Park. The Tigers led, 2-0, on a long home run to dead center field by Kerry Carpenter, his second homer in as many games.
Keider Montero (0-2) started for the Tigers, in the place of Justin Verlander (injured list, hip), and he was sharp through four innings, allowing one base runner while striking out three. In the fifth, though, the first two Cardinals reached, and Montero allowed a one-out RBI single to Pedro Pages, cutting Detroit's lead to 2-1. That ended the night for Montero, who left to a nice ovation from the hearty crowd (announced paid attendance, 28,823).
De Jesus relieved, and the first batter, Victor Scott, bunted in a run with a safety squeeze. De Jesus fielded it, but threw wildly to first base. Two batters later, Ivan Herrera hit a two-out, two single to make it 4-2.
The Tigers made it 4-3 in the sixth, but could've done more. They loaded the bases on two walks and a Parker Meadows single, and Javy Baez lined a ball that looked to be heading to the corner. Buit it was caught for a sacrifice fly.