Mistake on defense sets tone for Detroit Tigers in 7-1 loss to Baltimore Orioles
BALTIMORE — A fly ball that should've been caught by the Detroit Tigers dropped between center fielder Parker Meadows and right fielder Kerry Carpenter in the first inning, resulting in a leadoff double for Gunnar Henderson.
The rare mistake set the tone for the Tigers.
The Tigers lost, 7-1, to the Baltimore Orioles on Friday in the first of three games in the series at Oriole Park at Camden Yards, snapping a four-game winning streak.
In the postseason race, the Tigers (80-74) trail the Minnesota Twins by a half-game for the third and final American League wild-card spot, with the Twins playing late Friday night against the Boston Red Sox.
There are eight games remaining for the Tigers.
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The Orioles launched a season-high five home runs, including a two-run homer from Anthony Santander against left-hander Tyler Holton — a traditional reliever who worked as an opener — with two strikes and two outs in the first inning.
The Santander homer wouldn't have come with a man on if not for miscommunication in the outfield between Meadows and Carpenter. On the play, Carpenter appeared to call the ball, then he backed off too late. With two outs, Santander made the Tigers pay by crushing a 420-foot two-run home run to left-center.
they said his home run probability was 3% so he took that personally pic.twitter.com/K1fCicvly1
— Baltimore Orioles (@Orioles) September 20, 2024
For the second inning, right-hander Keider Montero — who had started 15 of 16 games in his MLB career before Friday's game — replaced Holton as the bulk reliever. His first pitch, a fastball to Colton Cowser, traveled for a solo home run to center, making it 3-0.
Montero surrendered a total of four homers.
After Cowser's blast, Montero allowed a two-run home run to James McCann in the fourth inning, a solo home run to Cowser in the sixth inning and a solo home run to McCann in the sixth inning. Both Cowser and McCann produced multi-homer games.
Montero, who exited with a 7-0 deficit to the Orioles, allowed five runs on seven hits and one walk with seven strikeouts across 4⅔ innings, throwing 82 pitches. The 24-year-old, despite his struggles, showcased a nasty changeup.
The five homers combined for 2,060 feet.
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Corbin Burnes cooks
The Tigers had to face right-hander Corbin Burnes for the second time in seven days, and for the second time in seven days, the Tigers were shut down by Burnes.
This time, the former NL Cy Young Award winner tossed seven scoreless innings on three hits and three walks with eight strikeouts, throwing 91 pitches. (Last time, he threw seven scoreless innings on two hits and one walk with seven strikeouts.)
In the second matchup, the Tigers put at least one runner on base in four of the seven innings. The best opportunity to score came in the sixth inning, when Carpenter doubled and Matt Vierling walked with two outs, but Riley Greene grounded out.
The Tigers also had a good chance to score in the third inning, when Trey Sweeney singled and Parker Meadows walked, but Carpenter grounded out to strand the runners.
Burnes has a 2.95 ERA in 31 starts.
The Tigers scored their lone run on Sweeney's RBI single off right-handed reliever Jacob Webb with two outs in the ninth inning.
Kenta Maeda shoves
Bringing in right-handed reliever Kenta Maeda is a sign of surrender.
That's what the Tigers did with two outs in the sixth inning, following McCann's second home run. But Maeda, who has 27 games of postseason experience in his eight-year career, tossed 2⅓ scoreless innings with five strikeouts, all while throwing 18 of 23 pitches for strikes.
Maeda retired all seven batters.
He struck out the side in the eighth inning on 10 pitches, missing an immaculate inning by one pitch.
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 win streak ends at 4 with 7-1 loss to Baltimore Orioles
