Tigers lose Game 4 on infuriating squeeze bunt as Kerry Carpenter exits with injury

The Detroit Tigers were seven outs away from punching their ticket to the ALCS, but then David Fry (who?!) fully disrupted those plans. The Cleveland Guardians escaped Comerica with a 5-4 victory in Game 4 to force a do-or-die Game 5 at Progressive Field.

This one was a back-and-forth battle until the very end, but the difference-makers were Fry's two-run homer in the top of the seventh and RBI squeeze bunt in the top of the ninth. Those hits put the Guardians up 4-3 and 5-3.

The Tigers would score in the top of the ninth, which makes that squeeze bunt all the more annoying. But in the end, Detroit's bullpen gave them their first true letdown in quite a while.

Reese Olson started the game and allowed just one run on five hits and a walk across four innings. Then, all of Tyler Holton, Sean Guenther, Beau Brieske and Jackson Jobe surrendered runs, with Brieske allowing the homer and Jobe getting squeezed.

All in all, a tough loss, but this is the Guardians' game. They play tight and wear you down, and it's gotten them this far.

Tigers lose Game 4 on infuriating squeeze bunt as Kerry Carpenter exits with injury

To make matter worse, the Tigers lost Game 2 hero Kerry Carpenter to injury in the bottom of the seventh. Carpenter was serving as the DH and was removed for Jace Jung after he apparently hurt himself running the bases to come around to score in the sixth inning.

Wenceel Perez drove him home to give the Tigers a 3-2 lead, but Carpenter came up hobbling and manager AJ Hinch took him out when it was his turn to bat. Jung ended up walking and knocking in a run with an RBI groundout in the ninth, providing some hope for his ability to fill in, but Carpenter's health for Saturday's Game 5 is now in question.

Apparently it's a hamstring issue, which certainly doesn't bode well, but the slugger has Friday to rest up as the Tigers assess their situation.

They'll have Tarik Skubal going in Game 5 and that's what they planned for this entire time. As long as the rest of the Gritty Tigs show up, stress levels shouldn't be too high given what we've seen out of the likely 2024 AL Cy Young winner this postseason.