The Detroit Tigers refused to quit.

Still, they were overpowered by big swings from the Boston Red Sox in the top of the 10th inning.

The Tigers lost, 7-5, to the Red Sox on Friday in the opener of a three-game series at Comerica Park. A three-run home run in the eighth inning from slugger Kerry Carpenter snapped a 21-inning scoreless streak, but the Tigers — despite forcing extra innings — were unable to complete the comeback.

In the 10th, right-hander reliever Shelby Miller allowed a two-run home run to Ceddanne Rafaela on a two-strike elevated fastball. The next batter, Jarren Duran, hit a solo home run off left-handed reliever Tyler Holton, crushing a first-pitch sinker.

The homer from Rafaela snapped Miller's streak of nine relief appearances without a run, which included no walks and 13 strikeouts across 9⅔ innings.

Right-hander starter Casey Mize gave up four runs across six innings in his return from the injured list. He hadn't pitched for the Tigers since June 30 because of a left hamstring strain.

The Tigers (68-68) have lost two straight following a six-game winning streak. As a result, the Tigers have slipped to 5½ games out of the final spot in the American League wild-card race, with 26 games remaining in the 2024 season.

As Mize battled, the Tigers were shut out until the eighth inning, when Carpenter hit a three-run home run off Red Sox left-handed reliever Brennan Bernardino.

The three runs in the eighth inning were sparked by Andy Ibáñez's walk and Matt Vierling's single. Carpenter hasn't been successful against left-handed pitchers in limited opportunities, but he pushed Bernardino's first-pitch sinker — located up-and-away — for an opposite-field homer to left field.

It was Carpenter's first homer off a lefty pitcher in 2024.

After making it a one-run game, the Tigers opened the ninth with Zach McKinstry's leadoff single off right-handed reliever Kenley Jansen. McKinstry immediately stole second to advance into scoring position. With one out, Jake Rogers smoked a first-pitch cutter at the top of the strike zone for a double to score McKinstry and tie the game at 4-4.

The Tigers had a chance to walk-off the Red Sox, but Riley Greene struck out swinging on Jansen's cutter way above the strike zone to strand Rogers at third base.

Greene, who served as the free runner in extra innings, scored in the bottom of the 10th inning on consecutive outs, making it 7-5, but it was too little, too late for the Tigers.

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Casey Mize returns

The Tigers fell behind in the first inning.

Mize, the 2018 No. 1 overall pick, allowed four runs on six hits and one walk with four strikeouts in six innings, throwing 85 pitches. He has a 4.36 ERA in 17 starts.

In the first, Mize surrendered a leadoff double to Duran on the first pitch of the game. Two batters later, Duran scored on a groundout for a 1-0 Red Sox lead.

The Red Sox grabbed a 2-0 lead on Wilyer Abreu's sacrifice fly in the third inning, soon after another double from Duran. The Red Sox then made it 3-0 with Connor Wong's double after Mize walked Tyler O'Neill on six pitches in the fourth inning.

He registered three of his four strikeouts in the sixth inning, but with two outs and two strikes, Wong pulled a well-executed, down-and-away slider for a solo home run, the fourth and final run against Mize.

Mize generated nine whiffs on 40 swings — a 22.5% whiff rate — with four fastballs, one splitter, two sliders and two curveballs. There was a lot of hard contact on the 20 balls in play from the Red Sox.

His fastball averaged 93.9 mph, down 1.7 mph from his average fastball velocity in the 16 starts.

Before Carp's homer

Red Sox right-hander Tanner Houck carved up the Tigers for most of Friday's game. He fired six scoreless innings on three hits and two walks with six strikeouts, using 95 pitches.

The Tigers didn't get a hit against Houck until McKinstry's leadoff single in the fifth inning.

McKinstry was later thrown out while trying to advance from first to third on Parker Meadows' single, ending the inning. Manager A.J. Hinch wanted to challenge, but umpire Chris Guccione determined Hinch didn't decide to challenge within his allotted 15 seconds.

Hinch didn't argue.

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 rally, then fall to Boston Red Sox, 7-5 (10)