Detroit Tigers open May with Matt Vierling blast, 4-1 victory over St. Louis Cardinals

Kenta Maeda wasn't perfect Wednesday, but he mitigated the damage against the St. Louis Cardinals in the first six innings while getting enough run support — primarily from Matt Vierling — to pick up his first win as a Detroit Tiger.

The Tigers took down the Cardinals, 4-1, in the final game of the interleague series. The win gave the Tigers their fourth straight series win after the teams split the first two games in a doubleheader Tuesday. The Tigers (18-13) sit five games above .500 a day into May.

Maeda was in control out of the gate, retiring eight in a row before allowing his first runner. Slugging catcher Willson Contreras did the only damage, knocking a 433-foot home run into the center field shrubbery, but the Tigers already had a lead and the bullpen was able to shut the door with three scoreless innings.

"We were able to jump on top, which is always important in a getaway day, series-deciding game," manager A.J. Hinch said. "Kenta had pretty good stuff from the very beginning."

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The Tigers built a three-run lead through the first three innings to give Maeda a cushion. Rookie Colt Keith, who entered Wednesday hitting .154 in 26 appearances, got the scoring started with a hard-hit RBI double into the right-center gap to score Vierling from first in the bottom of the second.

In the third, Kerry Carpenter began a two-out rally with a line drive single that snuck under the glove of St. Louis shortstop Masyn Wynn. Vierling, a St. Louis native, crushed a 414-foot two-run home run to left center soon after, clearing the Little Caesars logo between the bullpens, to put the Tigers up 3-0.

"It's awesome," Vierling said about playing his hometown team. "And then to have a little bit of success too and help the team win, that feels even better."

Contreras started the fourth inning with his shot to center to get the Cardinals on the board and make it 3-1, but Maeda recovered to make it through the next nine outs unscathed. Three relievers combined to throw the last three innings without giving up a run.

Vierling, Keith provide pop for Tigers' offense

Keith's second career MLB double came off a middle-middle changeup and zoomed at 104.5 mph into the deep alley in right-center, just enough to get past right fielder Lars Nootbar's glove to score Vierling from first.

"I was just really happy he didn't catch it and I was able to get an RBI for the team," Keith said. "I felt like it's been tough for me to contribute, and I was really happy I was able to get that RBI."

The prospect of Nootbaar making a play on the ball prompted Hinch to joke afterward that a "status check" on Keith would have been needed, considering the rookie's rough April, with several well-struck balls turned into outs by good fielding.

"It's been a tough little stretch for me but I feel like if anybody's going to come out of it on top, it'll be me," Keith said.

The third inning was shaping up to be Detroit's first 1-2-3 inning of the day, but Carpenter took a high fastball up the middle for a two-out single. Vierling watched the first three pitches of his at-bat to reach 2-1 before turning on an inside curveball to crush a line drive for a 414-foot two-run home run.

"(I'm) just trying to hit the ball in the air," Vierling said. "Trying to pull it more but there's ups and downs with it. Just trying to get the ball up."

The Tigers added an insurance run courtesy of Vierling in the bottom of the 8th inning. Wenceel Pérez opened the inning with a single and took third on a Kerry Carpenter single to right, then scored on Vierling's sacrifice fly to right.

It was Vierling's second three-RBI game this week; he played hero in Sunday's finale against the Kansas City Royals.

"He's as respected as anybody we have in that locker room because of the way he goes about his work," Hinch said. "I love him as a teammate, love him as a useful major-league player that can move around."

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Maeda navigates for quality start

Coming into his sixth start, Maeda did not have a win and boasted a 5.96 ERA in his young Tigers tenure. He delivered his best start in his past outing, with five scoreless innings and just three hits allowed against the Tampa Bay Rays, but wound up with a no-decision.

On Wednesday, Maeda found that groove again and lasted six innings. He gave up one run on four hits and no walks, with five strikeouts. He threw 79 pitches, 52 for strikes, and didn't allow a runner other than Contreras to pass first base.

"Simply very happy," Maeda said through translator Dai Sekizaki when asked about his first Tigers win. "I wasn't able to get a win for the first month so it's very nice to get that first one out of the way. It's a significant win for me."

He produced 10 whiffs on 34 swings (29.4%) by attacking with his offspeed pitches. He got four with his splitter, three with his slider, two with his four-seam fastball and one with a sinker. He threw his slider and splitter the most, 31.6% and 27.8% respectively, followed by the fastball at 25.3%. His fastball averaged 90.7 mph, bettering his season average (89.7 mph) by 1.2 mph.

The first batter to reach for St. Louis was No. 9 hitter Michael Siani, who reached on a single to center with two outs in the third, but Maeda forced leadoff hitter Brendan Donovan into an inning-ending groundout. Contreras started the next inning with his shot, but Maeda rallied to strike out Nootbar on a splitter then induced a lineout and groundout.

"You can hat-tip him on that one," Hinch said of Contreras' home run. "Kenta continued to pound the strike zone. I think probably his best fastball, location and velo today."

St. Louis started the fifth and sixth innings with leadoff singles, but Detroit escaped both innings on double plays, one on a lineout to first baseman to Spencer Torkelson and one capped by Carson Kelly catching a stealing runner at second after a strikeout.

Will Vest was the first arm out of the bullpen and was pulled after getting two outs and allowing two hits. Left-habnder Joey Wentz got the Tigers out of danger by striking out Alec Burleson looking on a fastball. Alex Lange came up with a two-out strikeout against Contreras with runners on the corners after replacing Wentz in the eighth. Lange stayed out in the top of the 9th and picked up three quick outs sandwiched around a Nolan Arenado walk for his second save of the season.

"A day like today gives all of us a ton of confidence," Hinch said.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Detroit Tigers cruise past St. Louis Cardinals, 4-1