DETROIT — Kerry Carpenter hit his third home run of the weekend and the Detroit Tigers battered the Chicago White Sox in the early innings en route to a 7-2 victory on Saturday afternoon at Comerica Park.
The Tigers (4-4) have won the first two games of their opening homestand of the season and will try to sweep the White Sox (2-6) in the series finale on Sunday.
Carpenter, who had two homers in the Tigers’ home opener on Friday, blasted a first-pitch curveball from White Sox starter Davis Martin to the right-field seats in the second inning.
That was part of a barrage of offense against Martin in the first three innings.
The Tigers picked up two runs in the first inning when leadoff man Justyn-Henry Malloy doubled and scored on a Riley Greene single. After Spencer Torkelson’s double, Andy Ibanez hit a tapper in front of the plate that he beat out for an infield single. It was Ibanez’s first hit of the season after an 0-for-9 start.
Jake Rogers launched a ball to left that seemed destined for extra bases, but Andrew Benintendi made a running catch at the wall to save two runs.
Even so, the Tigers have now scored an MLB-high 13 runs in the first inning over their first eight games.
After Carpenter’s homer made it 4-1, the Tigers kept pouring it on in the third. Torkelson opened with a solo homer to left, and the Tigers tacked on two more after loading the bases with nobody out.
Tigers starter Reese Olson pitched six innings, allowing only two runs despite three hits and seven walks.
He was aided by some nifty defense, including a double play started by Ibanez at third base in the second inning and a throw-behind-the-runner pickoff by catcher Jake Rogers in the fourth.
After Olson’s exit, reliever Beau Brieske pitched a scoreless seventh and John Brebbia breezed through the final two innings.
This story will be updated.
Up next: The Tigers and White Sox wrap up their three-game series on Sunday at 1:40 p.m. at Comerica Park.
Tigers rookie right-hander Jackson Jobe (0-0, 6.75 ERA) will face White Sox lefty Martin Perez (1-0, 0.00).
This is Jobe’s second career start after a sometimes shaky debut on March 31 in Seattle.
Perez is a 14-year MLB veteran who signed a one-year, $5 million deal with the White Sox before the season. He pitched six scoreless innings, striking out nine, in his season debut on March 31 against Minnesota.
