The Detroit Tigers couldn't get anything going against Tampa Bay Rays left-hander Tyler Alexander.

Alexander, a crafty southpaw who pitched for the Tigers from 2019-23, shoved five scoreless innings with six strikeouts, limiting the Tigers to just four hits.

After waiting out Alexander, the Tigers mounted a comeback in the later innings for a 4-3 win over the Tampa Bay Rays in Sunday's finale of a three-game series at Comerica Park, extending their winning streak to five games.

Colt Keith finished 2-for-4 with two RBIs.

The Tigers (85-74) have a 30-11 record in their past 41 games.

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The Tigers took care of business in the eighth inning, scoring two runs against left-handed reliever Garrett Cleavinger for a 4-3 lead. Keith tied the game, 3-3, with an RBI single.

At that point, there were runners on the corners with one out for Justyn-Henry Malloy, who pinch-hit for Kerry Carpenter. Malloy hit a sixth-pitch slider to center field, deep enough for Matt Vierling to score with a head-first slide from third base.

The sac fly from Malloy made it 4-3.

The Tigers stormed back in the sixth inning, facing right-handed reliever Hunter Bigge. Three consecutive batters reached safely, all with two outs: Matt Vierling worked a seven-pitch walk, Keith ripped a triple and Carpenter smacked a single.

The triple from Keith and the single from Carpenter drove in one run apiece, cutting the Tigers' deficit to 3-2. Carpenter came off the bench as a pinch-hitter, replacing Spencer Torkelson.

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Reese Olson starts

Right-hander Reese Olson made his third start since returning from the injured list, increasing his pitch count to 72 pitches. He threw 50 pitches in his first start and 58 pitches in his second start.

In his third start, Olson allowed two runs on four hits and zero walks with three strikeouts across four innings. The Rays tagged him for two runs on three singles in the third inning.

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All three singles were hit past Keith at second base, including Brandon Lowe's two-run single with two outs. The other two hits came from Ben Rortvedt and Taylor Walls.

Olson bounced back by avoiding damage on a one-out single in the fourth inning. The 25-year-old owns a 6.75 ERA across 9⅓ innings in three starts since coming back from a right shoulder strain, which sidelined him for nearly two months.

Casey Mize's new role

It was odd to see.

Right-hander Casey Mize worked as a reliever for the first time in his professional career, following 31 starts in the minor leagues and 59 starts in the major leagues. He hadn't pitched in a relief role since his freshman season at Auburn in 2016.

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Sure enough, Mize jogged out of the bullpen for the fifth inning of Thursday's game against the Rays. The 27-year-old gave up one run on three hits and zero walks with four strikeouts across two innings, throwing 39 pitches.

A triple and a wild pitch in the fifth put the Rays ahead, 3-0.

But Mize impressed in the sixth, when he allowed a leadoff double but stranded the runner with three strikeouts in a row: Dylan Carlson (splitter, swinging), Josh Lowe (fastball, swinging) and Jose Siri (fastball, called).

Contact Evan Petzold at epetzold@freepress.com or follow him @EvanPetzold.

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This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Detroit Tigers pull off another rally to stun Tampa Bay Rays, 4-3