Matt Vierling

With left-handed Matthew Boyd on the mound, Carpenter may not have started anyway, but the left-handed hitting slugger may not be available off the bench due to his hamstring issue. Justyn-Henry Malloy is the designated hitter and will lead off for the winner-take-all contest. The full lineup: DH Malloy, 3B Matt Vierling, LF Riley Greene, 2B Andy Ibanez, 1B Spencer Torkelson, CF Parker Meadows, C Jake Rogers and SS Trey Sweeney.

McKinstry had been on the bench for the last two games with Matt Vierling playing third base. On Thursday. Vierling will move to right field and Wenceel Perez will move to the bench. The rest of the lineup will stay the same against Tanner Bibee.

Six Tigers pitchers combined on the six-hit shutout. The Tigers had just five hits themselves, but two of them came with RISP, whereas the Guardians went 0-for-8 in those situations. Torkelson is now 1-for-16 with nine strikeouts in the postseason. He walked three times in the two games against the Astros, but he made outs in nine straight plate appearances to begin the series against the Guardians before finally delivering in the sixth today. The Tigers previously scored runs on an RBI single from Riley Greene in the first and on a sac fly from Matt Vierling in the third. The Tigers will take a 2-1 series lead into Game 4 on Thursday. The Guardians are slated to start Tanner Bibee. The Tigers will likely use Reese Olson, though it might be behind an opener.

Perez has not been starting against right-handers in the postseason, but the 24-year-old will get the nod against Alex Cobb for the pivotal Game 3 contest. Zach McKinstry begins the contest on the bench. The full lineup for Wednesday's contest: CF Parker Meadows, DH Kerry Carpenter, 3B Matt Vierling, LF Riley Greene, RF Perez, 2B Colt Keith, 1B Spencer Torkelson, SS Trey Sweeney and C Jake Rogers.