Lange whiffs Julio for final out, Tigers hold off Mariners 5-4

SEATTLE (AP) — Alex Lange threw a called third strike past Julio Rodríguez with two on for the final out, and the Detroit Tigers held off the Seattle Mariners 5-4 on Friday night.

Detroit Tigers 5, Seattle Mariners 4: Box score

Kerry Carpenter and Nick Maton each hit a two-run homer for the Tigers. Akil Baddoo also went deep to back starter Eduardo Rodríguez (5-5).

Dylan Moore hit a two-run double for Seattle, and pinch-hitter Mike Ford launched a solo homer in the ninth that trimmed it to 5-4. Lange walked consecutive batters with two outs before freezing Julio Rodríguez with a 1-2 curveball for his 14th save.

Jarred Kelenic’s run-scoring double in the eighth made 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.

Plenty of Kerry… that's outta here! pic.twitter.com/NCGLDA3HQe

— Detroit Tigers (@tigers) July 15, 2023

Moore hit a two-run double in the bottom half to put the Mariners on the board. Seattle loaded the bases when Julio Rodríguez drew a two-out walk, but Ty France was called out on strikes to end the inning.

DMO gets us on the board 👊 pic.twitter.com/ZxcUHxwNa5

— Seattle Mariners (@Mariners) July 15, 2023

France was then ejected for arguing with plate umpire Marvin Hudson.

Eduardo Rodríguez finished with seven strikeouts and three hits allowed over five innings. 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,” he 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 Julio Rodríguez from first base. Rodríguez was initially ruled out at the plate, but the call was overturned following a replay review.

To the gap 💥 pic.twitter.com/r0eF1U9CuC

— Seattle Mariners (@Mariners) July 15, 2023

“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.

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