1st MLB game since May? Carpenter returns with 2 HRs in rout

DETROIT -- Kerry Carpenter returned Tuesday from a nearly three-month stint on the injured list hoping to get back to his form before a stress fracture in his lower back sidelined him in late May.

“No benchmarks,” Carpenter said. “Just kind of playing at my full potential is my goal. … I think I was pretty close to my full potential before I went on the IL.”

After two home runs in as many innings off Seattle’s Cy Young candidate, George Kirby, that potential looked pretty vast. The potential for the Tigers offense with him in the middle didn’t look bad, either.

By the time the Tigers -- with Carpenter batting second -- were done rounding the bases in Tuesday night’s 15-1 win at Comerica Park, Kirby had become the first pitcher in 19 years to give up 11 runs to the Tigers.

Jake Rogers became the first Tigers catcher in 50 years -- and the first Tiger of any position in 17 years -- with a seven-RBI game.

Tarik Skubal, tasked with his second showdown opposite Kirby in seven days, finished the night not only bolstering his Cy Young case, but leading the American League in each of the Triple Crown categories -- 14 wins, 2.53 ERA and 180 strikeouts.

And Joey Wentz recorded his first MLB save, the largest margin of victory for a Tigers save since Esteban Yan closed out a 17-3 win over Cleveland in 2004.

“You guys can admit it: You didn’t see that in the Skubal-Kirby matchup,” manager A.J. Hinch said. “Neither did I.”

What was billed as a Cy Young candidate showdown became an example of how facing the same team in back-to-back starts can go in vastly different directions. It turned into a one-sided statement thanks in part to Carpenter.

“I had moreso prayed about it than anything,” Carpenter said of the anticipation of his return. “It was more just surrendering to the outcome, whether it was good or bad. Four strikeouts, four homers, whatever happened, I was going to just be free and play with gratitude out there to be back. And that was probably one of the reasons tonight went so well.”

Carpenter felt fine from his first time up, he said, crediting Kirby with a nasty curveball for his first-inning strikeout. Carpenter didn’t let him get to two strikes next time up, connecting with a first-pitch 97 mph fastball to send an opposite-field line drive over the left-field fence, fueling a four-run third inning that included a two-run double from Rogers.

Kirby had Carpenter in an 0-2 count an inning later, but left a 2-2 splitter over the plate, which Carpenter waited on and crushed to right for a two-run homer and a 7-1 lead.

“It was similar to my two-strike approach in general,” Carpenter said. “Be on his fastest heater at the top, and that usually lets me see everything else. I saw everything else pretty well, even with two strikes. He just made a mistake.”

Kirby faced five more batters until Rogers’ grand slam put Detroit into double digits. Five of his 11 runs were unearned. No pitcher had given up 11 runs to the Tigers since Toronto’s Dustin McGowan gave up 12 (10 earned) on Aug. 21, 2005.

Rogers was clearly aware of his cycle chances when he sent a Trent Thornton fastball to Comerica Park’s vast gap in left-center, scoring Parker Meadows in the sixth. Rogers accelerated around second -- scampered, in his words -- before being thrown out at third. He settled for the Tigers’ first seven-RBI game since Ryan Raburn on July 25, 2007, and the first from a Tigers catcher since Bill Freehan on Sept. 8, 1974.

“I just resorted to the moustache,” joked Rogers, who shaved his beard on Monday’s off-day. “I think that helped me a lot today, pushed me over the top.”

Skubal, meanwhile, cruised through six innings to beat the Mariners for the second time in seven days, his lone run allowed coming on a Mitch Haniger fourth-inning single scoring Justin Turner. Skubal’s nine strikeouts included five of Seattle’s first 10 batters, four on called third strikes and four more over his final two innings.

“Keep going right at them. Make them force you to adjust,” Skubal said of the rematch. “You’re going to still pitch to your strengths.”

With six-plus weeks left in the season, Skubal (14-4) already has the most wins by a Tiger since Justin Verlander’s 16 victories in 2016. If he keeps this up, he could join Verlander (2011) and Hall of Famer Hal Newhouser (1945) as the only Tigers to win pitching Triple Crowns.