Detroit Tigers slugger Kerry Carpenter was left out of the starting lineup for Saturday’s Game 5 of the American League Division Series against the host Cleveland Guardians.
Carpenter is nursing a left hamstring injury sustained after he rounded third and scored a run in the sixth inning of Game 4 to give the Tigers a 3-2 lead on Thursday. The Tigers were unable to hold that slim one-run lead and dropped a 5-4 decision that evened the best-of-five series.
Rookie Justyn-Henry Malloy will serve as the designated hitter and bat in the leadoff position for Saturday’s pivotal Game 5.
“Whenever your number’s called, let’s go,” said Malloy, who is 5-for-7 in the series.
“I think that mentality allows for a lot of our guys to be able to just ride with whatever the situation, whether it’s a tough arm on the mound, a tough hitter in the box. It allows us to just flow.”
Detroit will try to flow on Saturday when it sends ace Tarik Skubal (1-0, 0.00 ERA) to the mound against fellow left-hander Matthew Boyd (0-0, 0.00).
Carpenter, 27, belted a three-run homer off Cleveland All-Star closer Emmanuel Clase in the ninth inning of a 3-0 win in Game 2 on Monday. Carpenter is 4-for-16 with three runs scored in the postseason.
Carpenter batted .284 with 18 homers and 57 RBIs in 87 games during his third season with the Tigers.
He is a career .276 hitter with 44 home runs and 131 RBIs through 236 games.
