Mark Canha, Kerry Carpenter power Detroit Tigers to 8-2 win over Houston Astros

Detroit Tigers left-hander Tarik Skubal received a standing ovation from the fans as he walked off the field in the seventh inning.

He deserves a lot of credit for the win.

"That's pretty cool," Skubal said of the cheers. "The home opener here, I got the same thing, but I was upset, so I made sure to enjoy that one, just enjoy it."

But the Tigers' offense stole the show, exploding for seven runs in the second inning in Saturday's 8-2 victory over the Houston Astros in front of 27,140 fans in the second of three games in the series at Comerica Park.

Kerry Carpenter, who hadn't homered since April 17, hit two of the three homers for the Tigers.

"I know I hadn't hit a homer in a while," Carpenter said, "but I wasn't really worried about it. I knew it was going to come eventually, so I kept plugging away. It felt good today."

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Skubal, though, anchored the Tigers (20-19) because he kept the Astros at bay. The 27-year-old, who has a 2.02 ERA in eight starts this season, allowed two runs on six hits and one walk with seven strikeouts in 6⅓ innings, throwing 97 pitches.

He ranks first in the American League with an 0.857 WHIP.

"He's so good at tunnel vision," manager A.J. Hinch said. "He doesn't really look at the scoreboard, good or bad. He tries not to carry one inning into the other. He just has the challenge in front of him. I think that's a maturity that's really important when you're the type of pitcher that Tarik can be."

The Tigers took a 1-0 lead in the second inning, when Astros right-hander Cristian Javier walked Riley Greene on four pitches with the bases loaded.

The next batter, Mark Canha, slammed a middle-middle changeup for a grand slam to left-center field, making it 5-0. Two batters later, the Tigers extended their lead to 7-0 with a two-run home run from Carpenter.

"We had really good at-bats," Hinch said. "In the early part of the inning, we were super patient. He was nibbling around the zone or outside the zone. And then when he came in, we did damage back-to-back-to-back. That was obviously fun to see and a big difference in the game."

Canha hit the changeup 393 feet with a 102.9 mph exit velocity; Carpenter hit Javier's up-and-in fastball 350 feet to right field with a 106.5 mph exit velocity.

It was Canha's third career grand slam.

The first homer from Carpenter chased Javier, who was making his first start off a four-week stint on the injured list with neck discomfort, from his fifth start of the season.

Javier allowed seven runs on five hits and four walks in 1⅓ innings, without a strikeout. His ERA ballooned from 1.54 to 4.01 after the Tigers welcomed him back from the injured list.

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Tarik Skubal shines

Skubal threw first-pitch strikes to 21 of 28 batters.

The southpaw, who retired the first six batters he faced, was in complete control throughout his eighth start of the season, even though the Astros scored two runs in the fourth inning and applied pressure in the seventh.

"It's like watching one of the best pitchers in the world right now," Carpenter said. "We get an up-close-and-personal view of it, so it's pretty fun."

A leadoff double from Jeremy Peña in the fourth led to the Astros' first run, as Alex Bregman delivered an RBI single with one out, and before Skubal could get the second out, Yainer Diaz singled to drive in the Astros' second and final run.

Skubal worked around a pair of two-out singles in the fifth inning with three strikeouts, sending down Joey Loperfido (called strike, 87.6 mph changeup), Jose Altuve (swinging strike, 98.6 mph fastball) and Alex Bregman (swinging strike, 98.4 mph fastball).

The Astros threatened and chased Skubal in the seventh inning with a walk and a single, but not before Skubal got Altuve to pop out. Right-handed reliever Shelby Miller replaced Skubal, only to hit the first batter in the shoulder to load the bases.

With the bases juiced, the ever-dangerous Yordan Alvarez grounded into an inning-ending double play. The one-bouncer from shortstop Zach McKinstry nearly pulled first baseman Spencer Torkelson off the bag, but he dragged his right foot across the base while fielding the ball in the dirt to escape the jam without any damage.

"In that scenario, it feels like you come off the bag," Torkelson said, "but you're actually holding it longer than you think. I had a good feeling."

It was a key play with the glove from Torkelson, who also extended his hitting streak to six games with a ground-ball single to right field off a 96.5 mph fastball from right-handed reliever Hunter Brown (Wayne State) in the third inning.

Skubal generated 15 whiffs on 51 swings — a 29.4% whiff rate — with six changeups, four fastballs, one sinker and four sliders. He threw the first 100 mph pitch of his MLB career to Diaz, resulting in a foul ball, in the second inning, on his 22nd pitch of the game.

"I've always joked about doing it once in my career," Skubal said. "It's not the only thing I'm thinking about. I'm obviously thinking about elevating a fastball, but yeah, I think it's pretty cool."

Kerry Carpenter crushes again

The seven runs in the second inning were more than enough for the Tigers, but Carpenter tacked on another run for an 8-2 advantage with his second homer of the game.

It marked the third multi-homer game of his career.

In the fourth inning, Carpenter hammered a two-strike 97.5 mph fastball from Brown for a solo home run to left-center. He hit the ball 384 feet with a 102.6 mph exit velocity.

Carpenter has five homers in 36 games this season.

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

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This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Detroit Tigers blast their way past Houston Astros, 8-2