Kerry Carpenter swatted a go-ahead two-run homer in the eighth inning on Friday night, but the Tigers still couldn’t overcome the Reds in the opener of their three-game weekend series.

The Tigers held a 5-3 advantage in the seventh inning when a lengthy rain delay struck. When play resumed, the Reds struck for four runs in the home half of the seventh to take a 7-5 advantage. The Tigers stormed right back in the eighth as Spencer Torkelson crushed a solo homer to pull the Tigers within a run. Carpenter then launched a first-pitch fastball from Tony Santillan for a go-ahead 368-foot (97.8 mph EV) two-run shot. He finished the evening 1-for-2. On the season, the 28-year-old slugger is slashing just .221/.321/.500 with six homers and 15 RBI.

Kerry Carpenter went 1-for-4 with a solo shot in the Tigers’ 5-2 win over the Brewers on Wednesday.

The homer came in the eighth inning and gave Detroit an insurance run entering the final frame. Wednesday’s game was the first this season in which Carpenter started against a left-hander, even if it was a multi-inning opener scenario ahead of Chad Patrick. Carpenter now has five homers on the year, but he’s striking out over 36 percent of the time early on.

Kerry Carpenter went 2-for-3 with a home run and two RBI to power the Tigers to a 4-1 win over the Red Sox on Saturday.

Carpenter brought the first run in to score in the first inning on a bases-loaded walk. He added one more in the fourth, taking Brayan Bello deep for a solo homer to right field. Carpenter later added a base hit in the eighth, reaching for a third time. The 28-year-old slugger had been off to a relatively slow start, but is now up to four home runs while slashing .218/.318/.455 with 12 RBI across 66 plate appearances.

Kerry Carpenter is not in the Tigers’ lineup for Friday night’s series opener against the Red Sox in Boston.

Carpenter will take a seat with left-hander Ranger Suarez toeing the slab for the Red Sox. Jahmai Jones will function as the team’s designated hitter and will bat third for the Tigers on Friday night.

Kerry Carpenter went 0-for-3 before being pulled for a defensive replacement in right field Wednesday against the Tigers.

His removal came after he gifted Vinnie Pasquantino a triple in the eighth. Carpenter dropped the fly to right-center because he was distracted by center fielder Wenceel Pérez, who was also in line to make a play on the ball before backing off a little too late. Especially with Parker Meadows out, it’d be nice if Carpenter could play in the outfield regularly against righties, which leads to a stronger infield defense with Zach McKinstry at third and Colt Keith DHing. However, as poorly as Carpenter has fared so far, using him at DH, Keith at third and McKinstry in the outfield might be a better alignment.

Kerry Carpenter (illness) is back in the lineup for Wednesday’s showdown against the Twins.

Carpenter is back in right field and batting cleanup on Wednesday night at Target Field following a two-game absence due to a stomach bug. The 28-year-old slugger is off to a slow start at the plate, hitting .188 (6-for-32) with two homers and six RBI through 10 games this season.

Kerry Carpenter (illness) remains out of the lineup for the second straight game on Tuesday against the Twins.

Carpenter will miss his second straight contest as he deals with a stomach bug. It’ll be Zach McKinstry taking over in right field with Colt Keith at DH and occupying the leadoff spot.

Kerry Carpenter is out of the lineup for Monday’s game against the Twins due to illness.

It’s rare to see Carpenter take a night off against a right-handed starter and now we know why. The 28-year-old corner outfielder takes a seat with Matt Vierling drawing into the lineup. He should be ready to return in a couple days once he’s feeling better.

Kerry Carpenter slugged a two-run homer and collected three RBI on Saturday, leading the Tigers to an 11-6 win over the Cardinals.

The hope for fantasy managers is that this type of effort finally gets Carpenter going after an ice-cold start to the year that seems to have cost him the leadoff spot. The 28-year-old slugger took Cardinals starter Dustin May deep for a two-run homer in the opening frame before adding a sacrifice fly a couple frames later. He stands to benefit from a run-producing opportunity standpoint hitting in the middle of Detroit’s lineup with young standouts Colt Keith and Kevin McGonigle getting on-base consistently.

Kerry Carpenter has been dropped to fifth in the lineup for Tuesday’s contest against the Diamondbacks.

Tigers manager A.J. Hinch is going to shake things up by moving Colt Keith to the leadoff spot after Carpenter went 1-for-16 with 10 strikeouts in four games to kick off the season. It’s possible this is just a temporary move to try to find a spark but it would be a significant boost for Keith if he remains atop Detroit’s lineup ahead of Kevin McGonigle, Riley Greene and Spencer Torkelson.

Tigers signed OF Kerry Carpenter to a one-year, $3.275 million deal to avoid arbitration.

Carpenter had a strong 2025 season, hitting .252/.291/.497 with 26 home runs; however, injuries limited him to 130 games, and he’s never played over 130 games in his MLB career. He is also primarily a DH and will sit against left-handed pitchers sometimes, which saps some of his fantasy value.

Kerry Carpenter homered and went 4-for-5 in a 15-inning loss to the Mariners on Friday in Game 5 of the ALDS.

Kerry Bonds is real. Carpenter gave the Tigers a 2-1 lead on a homer off lefty Gabe Speier in the sixth inning, but that would be the last time the Tigers would score. Carpenter did his part, however, singling three times and drawing a pair of walks to end the series with a slash of .281/.410/.500 with two homers and six RBI. He’ll be a solid — if flawed — fantasy option again in 2026.

Kerry Carpenter will hit leadoff and play right field in Game 5 of the ALDS against the Mariners on Friday.

Carpenter will hit leadoff for a third-straight game against George Kirby and the Seattle bullpen. Gleyber Torres will hit second with Riley Greene and Spencer Torkelson following. The full lineup for Friday’s winner-take-all: Carpenter RF, Torres 2B, Greene LF, Torkelson 1B, Colt Keith DH, Zach McKinstry 3B, Dillon Dingler C, Parker Meadows CF and Javier Báez SS.

The Tigers have Kerry Carpenter leading off in Tuesday’s Game 3 against the Mariners.

It’s the same starting nine for Detroit as the first two games of the series, but the order is a little shuffled with the left-handed hitter ascending to the top. The full lineup: RF Carpenter, 2B Gleyber Torres, DH Colt Keith, LF Riley Greene, 1B Spencer Torkelson, 3B Zach McKinstry, C Dillon Dingler, CF Parker Meadows, SS Javier Báez.

Kerry Carpenter went 1-for-5 and blasted a two-run homer on Saturday as the Tigers stunned the Mariners in Game 1 of the ALDS in Seattle.

Carpenter victimized Mariners’ right-hander George Kirby for a 409-foot (112.5 mph EV) two-run shot with two outs in the fifth inning that gave the Tigers a 2-1 advantage. It’s the fifth career hit for Carpenter off of Kirby — all of them being home runs. The Tigers will now have an opportunity to take a commanding 2-0 series lead on Sunday with ace left-hander Tarik Skubal on the mound.

Kerry Capenter smacked an RBI double and drew three walks on Thursday afternoon as the Tigers vanquished the Guardians in Game 3 of the Wild Card series.

Carpenter opened the scoring in the third inning with an RBI double over first base off of left-hander Tim Herrin to plate Parker Meadows in the third inning. He also drew three walks in the contest — one of them intentional. The Mariners’ rotation features nothing but right-handers, so expect to see a full dose of Carpenter in the upcoming Division Series.

Kerry Carpenter is not in the Tigers’ starting lineup for Friday night’s battle against the Red Sox.

It’s the second straight game that the 28-year-old slugger finds himself on the bench with an opposing left-hander on the mound. Look for him to get an at-bat in a key spot against a right-handed reliever at some point on Friday evening. Jahmai Jones will start in his place as the designated hitter and bat leadoff for the Tigers against Kyle Harrison and the Red Sox on Friday night at Fenway Park.

The Tigers have lefties Kerry Carpenter, Colt Keith and Zach McKinstry on the bench Tuesday against Guardians left-hander Joey Cantillo.

Jahmai Jones, Andy Ibáñez and Javier Báez are starting. Tigers manager A.J. Hinch seems to be putting no stock in the fact that lefties have hit Cantillo far better than righties (.769 OPS vs. .610) in his 80 major league innings this season. If Carpenter is sitting tonight, he’ll probably be on the bench again tomorrow against Logan Allen, who has particularly strong platoon splits against left-handers (.625 OPS for lefties, .784 OPS for righties).

Kerry Carpenter went 2-for-5 with a two-run homer against the Marlins on Saturday.

Carpenter put the Tigers on the board with a two-run blast off Jansen Junk in the third inning. He also knocked a base hit in the fifth. The 28-year-old slugger is up to 25 homers, 65 runs scored, and 61 RBI while hitting .258/.299/.516 across 429 plate appearances.

Kerry Carpenter hit a two-run homer off the bench against the Yankees on Wednesday.

Carpenter actually struck out as a pinch-hitter against righty Mark Leiter Jr. in the seventh, but he homered off lefty Tim Hill in the eighth to help put away the game. Of course, he didn’t start in the first place because the Tigers were facing a lefty, and his OPS is about 260 points higher against righties this season. The homer was his third this season versus a left-hander, though he’s still just 11-for-52 against them overall.

Kerry Carpenter went 1-for-5 and delivered a two-run triple on Tuesday evening in a lopsided victory over the Yankees in New York.

Carpenter smacked a two-run triple as part of the Tigers’ nine-run rally in the seventh inning, then scored on a fielder’s choice off the bat of Wenceel Perez. For the season, the 28-year-old slugger is slashing .255/.295/.506 with 23 homers, 57 RBI and one stolen base in 414 plate appearances.

Kerry Carpenter hit a three-run homer and walked Wednesday in the Tigers’ 6-2 takedown of the Mets.

Carpenter walked and scored in the fifth and hit a three-run homer off Ryan Helsley in his subsequent at-bat in the seventh. The homer was his 23rd, while the walk was just his 16th. However, the walk rate has really picked up of late; eight of those 16 bases on balls have come in his last 16 games. He had a 76/8 K/BB in his first 338 plate appearances.

Kerry Carpenter went 2-for-3 with a walk and two RBI on Friday night as the Tigers triumphed over the Royals in Kansas City.

Carpenter drew a walk as the Tigers loaded the bases with two outs in the opening inning, but they were unable to push a run across. He then strolled to the dish with the bases juiced and two outs in the second inning and delivered a two-run single to trim their early deficit to just one run. Carpenter also singled in the fourth inning and scored the go-ahead run on Riley Greene’s two-run double. The 27-year-old slugger is now slashing .264/.301/.517 with 22 homers, 52 RBI and one stolen base in 385 plate appearances on the year.

Kerry Carpenter homered to help the Tigers to an 8-5 win over the Twins on Saturday.

Carpenter took Zebby Matthews deep to double the lead over the Twins to 2-0 in the third inning. He’s up to 22 homers on the season, and he’s hit the ball over the fence five times in August to help him forge a .616 slugging percentage for that month. Carpenter’s power is elite. It’s just that whole getting on base at a high clip thing that keeps him from being one of the upper-echelon options.

Kerry Carpenter went 2-for-4 with two runs scored, a double, a home run and four RBI against the Angels on Sunday.

Carpenter’s home run was his 21st of the season, a three-run shot off Jack Kochanowicz in the fourth inning. The 27-year-old knocked in four runs, giving him 45 RBI on the year. That’s a good amount of RBI for a part-time player who also spent a month on the injured list. Carpenter continues to hit for a ton of power in the middle of the Tigers lineup.

Kerry Carpenter hit a two-run homer in a loss to the Twins on Wednesday.

Carpenter reached the 20-homer club with a two-run shot off Pierson Ohl in the third inning. The 27-year-old has homered three times in August, and in four of his last seven games. Carpenter’s .298 on-base percentage isn’t great, but the power is readily apparent.

Kerry Carpenter went 2-for-4 with a two-run home run against the Twins on Monday.

Carpenter’s home run was his 19th of the season. His two-run shot off Noah Davis in the sixth inning was the longest home run of his career at 437 feet. Over his last 12 games, the 27-year-old outfielder is 14-of-33 (.424) with six home runs and 11 RBI. The Tigers will continue to deploy Carpenter against right-handed pitching.

Kerry Carpenter is not in the Tigers’ starting lineup for Sunday night’s showdown against the Phillies.

With left-hander Cristopher Sanchez toeing the slab for the Phillies, both Carpenter and Colt Keith will take a seat on the Tigers’ bench in favor of Jahmai Jones and Andy Ibanez. Expect Carpenter to see an at-bat against a right-handed reliever in a critical spot late in the ballgame.

Kerry Carpenter went 1-for-3 with a solo homer against the Phillies on Saturday.

Carpenter took Zack Wheeler deep for a solo homer in the third inning for his only hit of the game before he was lifted in the seventh for a pinch-hitter with a lefty on the mound. It was the 27-year-old’s second homer in four starts since returning from the injured list. Carpenter is up to 18 homers while slashing .264/.2294/.525 with 44 runs and 36 RBI across 296 plate appearances.

Kerry Carpenter hit a two-run homer and drove in three runs in a win over the Diamondbacks on Wednesday.