Wenceel Perez, Tigers chase series win over Cardinals

Wenceel Perez is making it impossible for the Detroit Tigers to send him back to Triple A.

Perez is giving the Detroit offense a huge jolt. He blasted his second and third career home runs in the second game of a doubleheader on Tuesday, leading the Tigers to an 11-6 win over visiting St. Louis.

The Cardinals won the opener 2-1 with a ninth-inning rally. The teams will play the rubber match of the series on Wednesday afternoon.

Perez is batting .302 with six extra-base hits in 15 games since being called up from Toledo on April 8.

"He's putting up really good at-bats," Tigers manager A.J. Hinch said. "He's not trying to do too much and yet he's doing more and more every day. It's an incredible opportunity for him, but also, he's having a lot of fun."

Detroit squandered Jack Flaherty's 14-strikeout performance in the opener, then posted a season-high run total in the nightcap.

"That was a great bounce-back win," Hinch said. "Tough loss in Game 1. We (missed) a lot of opportunities to widen the gap a little bit and widen the margin for error. In Game 2, we came out and showed quite a bit of character."

Tigers right-hander Kenta Maeda (0-1, 5.96 ERA) originally was scheduled to start the series opener, but his turn was pushed back two days when the Monday contest was postponed.

Signed to a two-year, $24 million contract as a free agent during the offseason, Maeda will be making his sixth start for the Tigers.

His latest outing, on April 23, was his best, as he held the Tampa Bay Rays scoreless in five innings. Maeda allowed three hits and no walks while striking out five.

"I discussed my mechanics with (pitching coach Chris) Fetter (last) week and cleaned up my mechanics," Maeda said. "That resulted in my fastballs having better command and velo. I hope I can build off that for next time."

The Rays' first two batters reached on errors, but Maeda wasn't flustered.

"With the way that game had started, it could've gotten away from him," Hinch said. "But no panic, no stress. Just continue to make pitches and trusting the defense was going to make the plays if he kept the ball in play."

Maeda is 2-1 with a 5.11 ERA in seven career outings, including four starts, against the Cardinals.

He will be opposed by Miles Mikolas (2-3, 5.91). The St. Louis right-hander gave up five runs in half of his six starts this season and two runs in each of the other outings.

Mikolas yielded two runs and seven hits in 5 2/3 innings against the New York Mets on Friday. That was good enough to collect a victory as the Cardinals won 4-2.

He will be facing the Tigers for the first time in his career.

The Cardinals' offense perked up in the nightcap on Tuesday. Alec Burleson homered and knocked in four runs. Brendan Donovan blasted a two-run homer, and Paul Goldschmidt had a four-hit game.

"Offensively, it was actually a good day," St. Louis manager Oliver Marmol said. "Game 2, you're starting to see some things we've been waiting for. Goldy is starting to look the way we want Goldy to look, Burleson took some really good at-bats and got behind one, Donny is starting to feel good about his swing. So we were able to put some things together offensively that are super encouraging."