PHOENIX – Kerry Carpenter ran as fast as he could.
He ran from second base to third base after hitting a ball off the wall in center field, then turned the corner for an inside-the-park home run. There was a bang-bang play at the plate and Carpenter was tagged out to end the top of the seventh inning.
The Detroit Tigers scored their fourth run on the play, when Spencer Torkelson scored from first to tie the game, but the Arizona Diamondbacks kept the momentum going from the out at the plate, scoring two runs in the bottom of the seventh.
That’s how the Tigers lost, 6-4.
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The Tigers’ (23-23) comeback attempt in the seventh inning began with Wenceel Perez drawing an eight-pitch walk, refusing to change up below the strike zone, and finally chasing left-hander Jordan Montgomery.
With two outs, Carpenter came on as a pinch-hitter, replacing Carson Kelly, for a matchup with right-handed reliever Ryan Thompson, an outside setter who throws sinkers and sliders. Carpenter hit Thompson’s two-strike sinker, placed low and in, for an RBI triple against the center wall.
And Carpenter nearly hit a go-ahead inside-the-park home run.
Third base coach Joey Cora’s aggressive delivery would have worked, but the Diamondbacks escaped with a perfect relay from right fielder Pavin Smith to shortstop Kevin Newman and catcher Tucker Barnhart. Smith got the ball rolling before starting the relay, which convinced Cora to keep his arm moving.
The Tigers questioned the play at the plate, but the umpires ruled that Barnhart did not block the plate.
The Diamondbacks took a 6-4 lead with two runs in the bottom of the seventh inning against right-handed reliever Alex Faedo. The Tigers then stranded two runners in scoring position when Thompson struck out Matt Vierling and Gio Urshela to finish the eighth inning unscathed.
Spencer Torkelson
In the third inning, Torkelson got the Tigers on the board with a solo home run to center field. The 24-year-old crushed a 91.5 mph fastball from Montgomery.
It hit the heater at 428 feet with an exit velocity of 106.5 mph.
Arriving in time for the fastball, even a lower velocity fastball, suggests Torkelson will harness more home run power very soon. Torkelson, who hit 31 home runs last season, has three home runs this season, but the first two came on hanging balls.
Torkelson has hits in 12 of his last 13 games, but has a .280 batting average over the current stretch. Only two of the 12 games are multi-hit games, and none of the 12 games are three-hit games.
The Tigers scored their second and third runs with an RBI single by Javier Báez in the fifth inning and an RBI double by Vierling in the sixth inning.
Those hits reduced the deficit to 4-3.
Man, oh, Manning
Right-hander Matt Manning didn’t have his best pitches.
There was traffic on the bases throughout his entire start, from the first inning to the fifth, against the Diamondbacks, and although Manning stranded plenty of runners, he also allowed four runs in his fifth start of the season.
Manning, who took over for Kenta Maeda in the rotation for the second consecutive at-bat, allowed four runs, 10 hits and three walks with one strikeout in five innings, throwing 86 pitches. The three left-handed hitters at the top of the lineup (Corbin Carroll, Ketel Marte and Joc Pederson) had six of the 10 hits.
The game began with a triple by Carroll, a walk by Marte and an RBI double by Pederson. After that, Christian Walker hit a sacrifice fly to put the Diamondbacks ahead, 2-0, in the first inning.
The Diamondbacks increased their lead to 3-0 in the second inning on a four-pitch walk by Barnhart, followed by consecutive hits by Marte and Pederson.
Marte extended his hitting streak to 18 games.
The Diamondbacks made it 4-1 on Walker’s sacrifice fly in the fourth inning. In the fifth, Manning gave up a one-out single, but was bailed out of his final inning with a line drive to shortstop that resulted in a double play.
Manning, 24, has a 4.88 ERA with 12 walks and 23 strikeouts in 27⅔ innings with the Tigers. His last big league start forced him to fight for every out.
He generated only four strikeouts in 35 swings, and the Diamondbacks put 22 balls in play.
Contact Evan Petzold at epetzold@freepress.com or follow him @EvanPetzold.
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