Detroit Tigers battle once again but fall short, 6-5, to Cincinnati Reds in extra innings

The Joey Wentz experience continues to put the Detroit Tigers in tough situations.

The Tigers provided Wentz, who started Tuesday's series opener against the Cincinnati Reds, with a three-run advantage in the first inning, only for Wentz to put the Tigers in a hole by failing to complete the third inning.

Wentz allowed five runs — only two earned runs — in the Tigers' 6-5 loss to the Reds in the first of three games at Comerica Park. The Tigers bailed out Wentz by tying the game in the fifth inning, but the Reds recaptured the lead in the top of the 10th inning on Tyler Stephenson's single off right-handed reliever Alex Lange.

Rarely do the Tigers (66-78) win games when Wentz pitches. The facts: The Tigers have lost 10 of 11 games that Wentz has pitched in since the beginning of June, as well as 16 of his 22 games throughout the entire season.

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The 25-year-old has a 6.65 ERA across 93⅓ innings this season.

Still, the Tigers erased Wentz's blemishes and had a chance to take down the Reds after tying the game, 5-5, in the fifth inning on Matt Vierling's walk, Andy Ibáñez's double and Kerry Carpenter's two-out single.

Vierling won a 13-pitch battle against left-hander Brandon Williamson to spark the two-run fifth inning. (He also hit a double in the second inning to extend his hitting streak to 10 games.)

Both runs in the fifth inning were charged to Williamson, who surrendered five runs on seven hits and two walks with four strikeouts in four-plus innings, throwing 57 of 92 pitches for strikes.

Tigers right-handed reliever Will Vest continued his dominance by striking out all four batters he faced: one in the fifth inning and three in the sixth inning. He had four whiffs and eight called strikeouts with 16 total pitches.

Left-handed reliever Tyler Holton didn't record a strikeout, but he retired all five batters he faced: three in the seventh inning and two in the eighth inning.

Right-handed reliever Jason Foley replaced Holton to face a right-handed hitter and finished the eighth by using his revered sinker to generate a groundout, then retired all three batters in the ninth inning.

To start the ninth inning, Parker Meadows — stuck in an 0-for-23 slump — ran toward the infield and made a difficult catch look easy in center field to take a single away from Will Benson.

The Reds' offense finally shook the Tigers' sturdy bullpen in the top of the 10th inning, when Stephenson lined Lange's two-strike curveball for a single into shallow right-center field. Pinch-runner Noelvi Marte, serving as the free runner in extra innings, tested the accuracy of Carpenter's arm in right field.

The decision to test Carpenter paid off for the Reds. A poor throw from Carpenter pulled catcher Jake Rogers up the third-base line, which allowed Marte to score without a true play at the plate.

Trailing 6-5, the Tigers were shut down by Reds right-handed reliever Buck Farmer — who pitched for the Tigers from 2014-21 — in the bottom of the 10th inning.

The free runner in extra innings advanced to third base on Spencer Torkelson's flyout to center field, but Ibáñez was thrown out at home plate on pinch-hitter Akil Baddoo's grounder to second base.

Carpenter struck out swinging to end the game.

Bad start

A sharp 13-pitch first inning for Wentz allowed the Tigers to provide a three-run cushion, but once that happened, Wentz immediately squandered the run support. The left-hander needed 32 pitches for three outs in the second inning and 24 pitches for two outs in the third inning.

The Reds' three-run second inning began with a throwing error by third baseman Zack Short and continued with a mistake by first baseman Torkelson, who failed to turn a double play on a grounder from Joey Votto.

Wentz didn't help himself, though, when he walked Elly De La Cruz on five pitches with one out. He worked his way to two outs before the Reds put together three consecutive hits: TJ Friedl (single off middle-middle fastball), Jonathan India (single off middle-away fastball) and Nick Senzel (double off down-and-in fastball).

The singles from Friedl and India drove in three runs to tie the game, 3-3.

In the second inning, Wentz retired back-to-back batters but let the inning get away from him by walking Joey Votto with two outs. The Reds took advantage with ensuing hits from De La Cruz (single) and Harrison Bader (double). Bader's double drove in two runs for a 5-3 lead.

Wentz walked Friedl, a left-handed hitter, to end his outing. Right-handed reliever Beau Brieske entered from the bullpen, walked India to load the bases and struck out Senzel swinging at a full-count fastball to escape the jam.

In his 22nd game, Wentz allowed five runs (two earned runs) on six hits and three walks with one strikeout across 2⅔ innings. He threw 43 of 69 pitches for strikes and recorded four whiffs.

Early runs

The Tigers took a 3-0 lead in the first inning.

Facing Williamson, Ibáñez launched a solo home run off a third-pitch changeup at the bottom of the strike zone. Since Aug. 18, the 30-year-old is hitting .319 (15-for-47) with four doubles, four homers, six walks and five strikeouts in 17 games.

The Tigers continued to work Williamson, who needed 29 pitches in the first inning, with four consecutive singles from Spencer Torkelson, Jake Rogers, Carpenter and Miguel Cabrera.

Carpenter and Cabrera made it 2-0 and 3-0, respectively.

The first-inning single marked the 3,160th hit of Cabrera's 21-year career. The 40-year-old is six hits away from tying Adrián Beltré on MLB's all-time list. Votto, the Reds' legend, hugged Cabrera upon his arrival to first base.

Contact Evan Petzold at epetzold@freepress.com or follow him @EvanPetzold.

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Next up: Reds

Matchup: Tigers (66-78) vs. Cincinnati (75-71).

First pitch: 6:40 p.m. Wednesday; Comerica Park, Detroit.

TV/radio: Bally Sports Detroit; WXYT-FM (97.1).

Probable pitchers: Tigers — LHP Eduardo Rodriguez (11-7, 3.18 ERA); Reds — RHP Connor Phillips (0-0, 9.04).

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Detroit Tigers battle once again, fall short, 6-5, to Reds in 10 inn.