DETROIT -- Tigers manager A.J. Hinch anticipated in Spring Training that managers might test his platooning of Kerry Carpenter this season by going to lefty relievers earlier. Still, as White Sox manager Will Venable walked to the mound to take the ball from starter Jonathan Cannon with two outs in the fourth inning Friday, it didn¡¯t trouble Hinch much.
¡°We pushed them to a fourth-inning decision,¡± Hinch said. ¡°That in itself is an advantage, because we have a lot of game left.¡±
The Tigers had taxed the right-handed Cannon for 88 pitches and three runs over 3 2/3 innings, including a first-pitch home run from Carpenter that glanced off the right-field foul pole in the first inning. But Cannon had retired four in a row and had nobody on base as Carpenter stepped to the plate in the fourth. Venable had rookie lefty Brandon Eisert warming for a reason, and the looming duo of Carpenter and Riley Greene was it.
With a two-run lead, Hinch didn¡¯t flinch.
¡°Two outs, nobody on is not going to get Kerry Carpenter out [of the game],¡± Hinch said. ¡°So if there are other managers watching, that¡¯s not the spot to chase him out of the game. I don¡¯t know if they were trying to do that, but part because of where we were in the game, part what the situation was, part was the score was, and Carp¡¯s doing a really good job hanging in there when he gets his opportunities, it makes everyone out there thirsty for more.¡±
Carpenter, who had pushed for more chances against lefties since Spring Training, quenched it. And with his opposite-field drive to left, he not only provided what became a valuable add-on run in the Tigers¡¯ 7-4 win, he added another chapter to the ¡°Kerry Bonds¡± legend while making a statement about his ability to be an all-around hitter and not just a righty killer.
¡°I don't know if it sent a message,¡± Carpenter said, ¡°but I really like where I'm at with my swing and my approach. That was just a good thing that happens when my swing and approach are good.¡±
Carpenter became the first Tiger with two homers in the home opener since Prince Fielder homered twice against the Yankees on April 5, 2013. Fielder¡¯s effort also included a lefty-lefty homer, taking a Boone Logan pitch deep to right that day. But while Fielder had long since established himself as a universal masher, Carpenter has had to make his own case for opportunities.
Just four of Carpenter¡¯s previous 44 Major League home runs had come off of lefties, including one of his 18 last year, an opposite-field homer off Boston reliever Brennan Bernardino. But with just 28 at-bats and three hits against lefties in 2024, Carpenter didn¡¯t have many opportunities.
Carpenter isn¡¯t likely to get many starts against lefties this year as long as the Tigers have right-handed options on the bench, but at-bats against lefty relievers like Friday provide the middle ground to give Carpenter more chances. Eisert has a small sample size in the big leagues, and his arsenal plays into the left-field approach Carpenter takes in lefty-lefty situations.
¡°Especially against lefties -- in high school, college or the Minor Leagues -- I always felt like I was really good at letting the ball travel and hitting it out that way,¡± Carpenter said. ¡°That was one of my goals with that at-bat. He looked like he was working on a sinker, but usually his stuff is just really going away from you. I don¡¯t want to try to pull those kind of guys, but seeing the slider start out over, I just wanted to drive it that way.¡±
Carpenter did it with an explosive swing that tucked under Eisert¡¯s slider on the outer half of the plate, sending a loft that spun left fielder Andrew Benintendi around before it landed in the Tigers' bullpen. The 359-foot shot would¡¯ve been a home run in just seven other Major League parks, according to Statcast, but considering how many times the Tigers are on the other end of the ratio at Comerica Park, they¡¯ll gladly take it.
It was Carpenter¡¯s first multihomer game since last Sept. 22, when he homered twice in Baltimore.
Carpenter has already had a share of big moments in Detroit. A two-homer game in front of a sellout crowd for a home opener?
¡°That's up there,¡± he said. ¡°That was a big blessing. To do it in front of the crowd in such a big moment, such a cool thing for the city, home opener, I really enjoyed that one.¡±