DETROIT — Nicknamed ‘‘Kerry Bonds’’ by a minor-league teammate, Tigers right fielder Kerry Carpenter hurt the White Sox again Saturday after homering twice Friday.
Sox starter Davis Martin already had gotten two outs in the second inning when Carpenter came up with a runner on first.
Carpenter had just missed a first-pitch home run in his first at-bat on a sharply hit ball to center fielder Luis Robert Jr. This time, he blasted a two-run shot.
Tigers hitters set the tone from the first inning in the 7-2 victory over the Sox, and Martin gave them hittable pitches in the zone.
The pitch to Carpenter was a 78.7 mph curveball that he clobbered to right field. There was no doubt for Carpenter nor the 26,098 fans at Comerica Park that the ball was going out of the park.
Martin labored through five innings, giving the bullpen a much-needed breather after Jonathan Cannon’s short start Friday.
The changeup is Martin’s best pitch, but the Tigers were sitting on it, forcing Martin and catcher Korey Lee to pivot to his four-seamer.
“You saw they were jumping on off-speed early and often,” said Martin, who allowed seven runs, nine hits and two walks. “As we went on, we started switching it to more of a fastball-heavy approach, moving the sinker around, following it up with four seams, doubling it up with four seams. So just seeing that earlier, the better.
“Instead of doing that in the third and fourth innings, doing that in the first two or so. Just reading swings, reading those tendencies early in the game is another part of development.”
This series has shown just how small the room for error is with the Sox. It seemed like the Tigers capitalized on every mistake.
Brooks Baldwin was picked off first base in the fourth inning with Andrew Vaughn at second with two outs. Instead of chipping into the lead, the Sox squandered a prime opportunity.
“That play can’t happen,” manager Will Venable said. “He knows that. We’re trying to mount a comeback there, and he just was a step too far off and wasn’t able to redirect in time. A good learning experience for him, but we have to be better than that.”
The Sox were 1-for-8 with runners in scoring position. They’ve lost four in a row and been outscored 28-10.
“We get to salvage [a game] and go out and play a good game, and that’s where our focus will be,” Venable said.