SEATTLE — Alex Lange threw a called third strike past Julio Rodríguez with two runners aboard for the final out, and the Detroit Tigers held off the Seattle Mariners 5-4 on Friday night.
Kerry Carpenter and Nick Maton each hit a two-run homer for the Tigers. Akil Baddoo also went deep to back starter Eduardo Rodriguez (5-5).
Dylan Moore hit a two-run double for Seattle off the top of the left-field fence in the fifth inning, and pinch-hitter Mike Ford trimmed it to 5-4 with a solo homer in the ninth. Lange walked consecutive batters with two outs before freezing Rodríguez with a 1-2 curveball for his 14th save.
Jarred Kelenic hit a run-scoring double in the eighth to make it 5-3, but Detroit reliever Jason Foley struck out Teoscar Hernández and Eugenio Suárez with Kelenic on third to end the inning.
Carpenter connected in the first off Luis Castillo (6-7), who then retired 12 batters in a row before
Baddoo put the Tigers up 3-0 with a solo homer in the fifth.
Moore’s two-run double in the bottom half put the Mariners on the board. Seattle loaded the bases when Rodríguez drew a two-out walk, but Ty France was called out on strikes and ejected for arguing with plate umpire Marvin Hudson.
Rodriguez finished with seven strikeouts and three hits allowed over five innings for the Tigers. It was his first win since throwing seven shutout innings against Cleveland on May 10. The left-hander spent June on the IL with a finger injury, and allowed five earned runs against the Athletics in his first start back July 5.
“I feel like my command was a lot better today,” Rodriguez said. “Better than it was in the last start, against Oakland. I feel like I have my command back, so that’s what I really take out of my start today.”
Detroit ran Castillo, an All-Star this year, out of the game after five innings. The right-hander allowed four hits and three earned runs on 91 pitches, forcing the Mariners to go to the bullpen earlier than anticipated.
“I liked our at-bats against Castillo,” Tigers manager A.J. Hinch said. “He’s not easy. It’s not easy to see here early in the game, but we stayed in there. He threw a ton of secondary pitches. He’s been going first-pitch fastball quite a bit to the rest of the league but he threw a lot of secondary pitches to us. … The mistakes he made, we made him pay.”
Maton, just called up from the minors, clubbed a homer in the seventh against reliever Ty Adcock that gave the Tigers a 5-2 lead.
Maton was hitting .163 when he was sent down to Triple-A Toledo on June 26, but was called back up after just 11 games.
“I went down there to find myself again,” Maton said. “Now I’m playing like I know I can. I know it’s just one game, but I’m going to keep putting them back together and keep on grinding.”
Kelenic’s eighth-inning double off Foley scored Rodríguez from first base. Rodríguez was initially ruled out at the plate, but the call was overturned following a replay review.
“We did some things good offensively, late, to get us back into the game, but certainly not enough tonight,” Seattle manager Scott Servais said. “They hit three balls over the fence and we didn’t. It’s kind of the story of the game tonight.”
ROSTER MOVES
Detroit released Jonathan Schoop after the veteran infielder cleared waivers. Maton was recalled from Triple-A Toledo.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Mariners RHP Bryce Miller is scheduled to start Sunday. He has been out since June 30 with a blister on his right middle finger.
UP NEXT
Seattle RHP George Kirby (8-7, 3.09 ERA) starts Saturday after pitching one inning Tuesday in the All-Star Game.
All-Star RHP Michael Lorenzen (3-6, 4.03) goes for Detroit. Lorenzen is 1-4 with a 4.65 ERA over his past seven starts.
