ANAHEIM -- The 1995 movie classic The Usual Suspects was filmed up the road in various spots across Los Angeles, set around the legend of a criminal mastermind named Keyser Söze, whose power and ruthlessness take on a mythical status. As the Tigers chipped away at their deficit in the eighth inning Thursday night at Angel Stadium, one big hit after another, the threat of Kerry Carpenter looming on their bench seemed to have a similar impact on the Angels.
The greatest trick A.J. Hinch pulled in Detroit’s 10-4 win was to convince Angels manager Ron Washington that Carpenter was going to beat him if he went to a right-handed reliever.
Instead, Dillon Dingler did it with a go-ahead three-run homer off lefty Reid Detmers.
“That was cool,” Dingler said of his fourth home run of the year and first late-game go-ahead shot of his brief big league career. “Obviously, I think I got a little bit of protection with Kerry.”
And like Verbal Kint (Söze) walking out of the police station, the Tigers walked out of Angel Stadium with their 20th win of the season, the first team in the American League to reach the mark.
The more the Tigers win with matchups, mixing and matching for big moments, the more wary opponents become of setting them up.
“He’s obviously a huge threat to come off the bench,” manager A.J. Hinch said. “And we’re willing to hit for anybody. It’s obviously nice to have guys that can come off the bench and impact the game, and sometimes it works out where they get left on the bench and the guys in the game do it. It’s part of the pressure that we put on you is that we have a lot of options and we’re going to do it for everybody.”
Though Carpenter has made his case that he can hit left-handed pitching, batting 6-for-24 with two homers off southpaws so far this season, he was out of the lineup against Angels lefty starter Yusei Kikuchi. Left-handed hitters were 3-for-18 (.167) with no extra-base hits against him.
The Tigers hit two solo homers in five innings against Kikuchi, both from usual suspects, no pun intended. Gleyber Torres’ third-inning homer and fifth-inning single improved him to 12-for-30 off his former AL East rival, while Javier Báez hit one home run and just missed another off a lefty he hit for a two-run double last May.
Still, the Angels’ four runs in their first four innings against Casey Mize had them in control for most of the night. They just missed a fifth run when Báez made a leaping catch over the fence in right-center to take a would-be second homer away from Jorge Soler, keeping it a two-run game.
“If it's a homer there, it's a fifth run and it's a really rough day,” said Mize, who tossed two more scoreless innings to keep the game within reach.
Torres’ single off righty Ryan Zeferjahn leading off the eighth brought the potential tying run to the plate in Riley Greene. The Angels turned to Detmers, who gave up five runs without retiring a batter on Wednesday against the Mariners.
Greene’s ensuing walk brought the go-ahead run to the plate in Andy Ibáñez, whose primary role is to hit lefties. He didn’t hit Kikuchi, but his single off Detmers scored pinch-runner Colt Keith to bring the Tigers within a run.
Detmers retired Spencer Torkelson for the first out, but Zach McKinstry – 11-for-30 off lefties entering his at-bat even after striking out twice against Kikuchi -- sent a ground ball through the middle to tie the game.
Up came Dingler, seeking a fly ball to bring home Ibáñez from third.
“I was just trying to stay calm, honestly just trying to make contact,” he said.
After a steady diet of curveballs, he got a hanging slider and crushed it to left.
“It’s a big swing to be able to separate and be able to have a comfortable win,” Hinch said, “and he’s doing really good things. I think the opportunity that he’s been given has allowed him to settle in.”
Carpenter never made it into the game, just his third game completely off this season. He still impacted it.