DETROIT — It was looking like the Tigers were going to get beat by a starting pitcher who had amassed the most losses (11) and allowed the most earned runs (61) in baseball Monday night.
Coming home after taking three of four from the Central Division-leading Twins at Target Field, they were handcuffed for six innings by beleaguered right-hander Jordan Lyles and trailed 4-1.
Everything changed in the seventh. The Tigers scored five runs, three on one impressive swing by Kerry Carpenter, beating the Kansas City Royals, 6-4, at Comerica Park.
Miguel Cabrera, who had a pair of hits, and Jonathan Schoop knocked Lyles out of the game with a single and double to start the seventh.
Against right-handed reliever Taylor Clarke, Jake Rogers ripped a two-strike, two-run single to left field. After Zach McKinstry walked, Carpenter leaned into a 2-2 changeup and sent it on a high arc just inside the foul pole in right field.
It was his sixth homer of the season and second in two days.
After lefty reliever Tyler Alexander put up zeros in the seventh and eighth, working out of a first-and-third, one-out mess in the eighth, manager AJ Hinch gave the ball to Alex Lange in the ninth.
Coming off a disastrous eighth inning in Minnesota Sunday in which he hit two batters, walked two others and gave up three runs without getting an out, Lange pitched a clean ninth inning to earn his 11th save.
After the Tigers used their bullpen to cover two full nine-inning games against the Twins, rookie right-hander Reese Olson was tasked with eating innings Monday. He did more than that. He produced a quality start, going six innings and allowing three earned runs with eight strikeouts.
He was victimized by a couple of home run balls, both in the fourth inning. Bobby Witt, Jr., jumped a 1-1 fastball (94 mph) and sent it 442 feet deep into the left field seats. Olson walked MJ Melendez and with two outs Maikel Garcia drove a first-pitch slider into the seats in left.
The slider was somewhat of a bi-polar pitch for Olson. He got seven swinging strikes (on 17 swings) and three called strikes with it. But the Royals also tagged it for three extra-base hits.
He gave up an unearned run in the fifth, set up by a two-out throwing error by shortstop Zack Short. He pitched a clean sixth and ended up with 15 swinging strikes and 20 called strikes.
