Kerry Carpenter crushes key home run in Detroit Tigers' 6-3 win vs new-look Twins

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19 hours ago

Not only did the Minnesota Twins part ways with one-third of the players on their roster, they also shipped out some of their best players at the trade deadline: closer Jhoan Duran to the Philadelphia Phillies, reliever Griffin Jax to the Tampa Bay Rays and shortstop Carlos Correa to the Houston Astros.
Two years ago, the Twins won the American League Central.
In 2025, the Detroit Tigers are the AL Central leaders, and looked like in Monday night.
The Tigers reminded their division foes of their current dominance in a 6-3 win over the new-look Twins on Monday, Aug. 4, in the opener of a three-game series at Comerica Park.
The Twins didn't go down easy, but the Tigers (66-48) pulled away with three runs in the sixth inning, including a 437-foot two-run home run from Kerry Carpenter off right-handed reliever Noah Davis with the fans chanting his first name.
Carpenter celebrated the key home run by flipping his bat, holding both arms in the air and trotting to first base.
After Gleyber Torres tied the game on a groundout, Carpenter refused to swing at back-to-back pitches for balls before demolishing a 94 mph sinker at the top of the strike zone for a two-run homer, putting the Tigers ahead, 5-3.
It was his 19th homer in 85 games this season.
The Tigers padded their lead in the seventh inning, thanks to Dillon Dingler's solo home run off right-handed reliever Erasmo Ramírez. He pulled a down-and-in sinker over the wall in left field.
It was Dingler's 10th homer.
Dingler is hitting .274 with a .749 OPS across 85 games in his first full season in the big leagues.
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Casey Mize's quality start
Right-hander Casey Mize allowed three runs on four hits and zero walks with four strikeouts in six innings, throwing 67 pitches. He entered Monday's game with an 11.42 ERA in his last three starts — following a 2.63 ERA in his first 15 starts.
This was a step forward.
In 2025, Mize now owns a 3.50 ERA in 19 starts.
The Twins tagged Mize for three solo home runs: Ryan Jeffers hit a 94.4 mph sinker for a 420-foot homer in the first inning; Trevor Larnach hit a splitter for a 434-foot homer in the fifth inning; Matt Wallner hit a splitter for a 437-foot homer in the sixth inning.
Both splitters were poorly executed pitches.
The homer from Wallner landed in the shrubs in center field.
Aside from the homers, Mize gave up just one hit on a single to Edouard Julien in the sixth inning, then erased Julien from the bases when Austin Martin grounded into a double play.
Wenceel Pérez's development
The Tigers fell behind on the scoreboard, but Wenceel Pérez revived them when he hit a two-run home run off right-hander Travis Adams with one out in the fifth inning.
Until then, Adams had shut out the Tigers.
The Pérez homer tied the game, 2-2.
It was Pérez's ninth home run in 54 games (and 197 plate appearances) in his second MLB season — following nine homers in 112 games (and 425 plate appearances) as a rookie last season. Not only has Pérez developed in the power department from Year 1 to Year 2, but he has also improved his batting average (.242 to .262) and his OPS (.683 to .805).
For the Twins, Adams allowed two runs on four hits and zero walks with seven strikeouts in five innings, throwing 63 pitches. He generated 16 whiffs on 33 swings for an incredible 48.5% whiff rate.
Contact Evan Petzold at [e-mail] or follow him @EvanPetzold.
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This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Detroit Tigers score: Kerry Carpenter homer leads to 6-3 win vs Twins