Detroit >> You knew there was a reason, a sound, well thought-out reason. There always is with manager AJ Hinch.

But when he sent up left-handed hitting Kerry Carpenter to pinch-hit for Andy Ibanez in the seventh inning Friday with two on and one out and the game tied, it seemed curious. Athletics’ manager Mark Kotsay had lefty TJ McFarland warming. Certainly, Hinch expected Kotsay to bring him in to neutralize Carpenter.

“I didn’t know exactly what he was going to do, but he had the option,” Hinch said. “There’s always the chess match of like, who moves first, who moves second, who is countering who.”

Hinch’s calculus for sending up Carpenter in that spot included the fact that right-handed hitting Spencer Torkelson was on deck. He was forcing Kotsay to play his hand.

“He did have to make a decision on whether to attack Carp and risk Tork, or to do what he did,” Hinch said. “Which turned out to be the right result.”

The only way McFarland would have avoided Torkelson was to get Carpenter to hit into a double-play. That’s exactly what happened. Carpenter hit it right back to McFarland who started a 1-6-3 inning-ending double-play.

“Those are always agonizing ones,” Hinch said. “Some decisions are when to put somebody in and some decisions are when you don’t put somebody in. I go back and forth but I try not to judge it by the results. We tried to press the (bullpen) usage, when he was going to have to go to the bullpen. Which he did.

“But that’s the manager grind that happens in those situations.”

Comerica slayer

So many players have been intimidated and defeated by the spacious dimensions of Comerica Park, going back to Juan Gonzalez who cursed this park back in 2000. In more recent times, Robbie Grossman quickly fell out of love with the deep gaps.

And then there’s Mark Canha.

“I don’t know, I can’t really explain it, but I’ve always liked hitting here,” he said.

His 414-foot blast on Friday was his sixth home run at Comerica in 18 games. He’s posted a .611 slugging percentage and .955 OPS in 61 plate appearances in Detroit.

“Maybe it’s the batter’s eye (in center field),” he said. “I’m not sure but I’ve always liked it here.”

The dimensions haven’t much impacted his approach.

“Knock on wood,” he said. “But I don’t really hit the ball to center field in the air. That’s not where my power stroke goes. Hopefully it doesn’t come into play too much. I try to hit the ball in the corners more often than not.”

Hello old friend

Maybe Matt Vierling will get a rematch against his former Notre Dame teammate Joe Boyle. Boyle, who punched out Vierling twice when the two faced each other last Sept. 23 in Oakland, is scheduled to start Sunday.

“He tore me up pretty good,” Vierling said. “He throws so damn hard.”

Vierling, once upon a time back in St. Louis, was a pitcher. He and Boyle, also from St. Louis, had the same pitching coach in high school — the late Brian DeLunas.

“Joe was his prodigy,” Vierling said. “Joe always had incredible mechanics. Everything was perfect. He was 6-foot-7 and he looked like he was barely trying and throwing 96 mph when he was 16.”

Boyle’s family moved to Louisville in his senior year of high school and Vierling went off to Notre Dame. DeLunas, though, helped bring the two together in South Bend.

“He reached out to me and said, ‘Joe really loved Notre Dame. Can you help facilitate the recruiting process?’” Vierling said. “I told the coaches about him. I’m not taking all the credit. They were already on him. But I hosted his official visit and took him around campus. We had a lot of fun.”

Boyle, whose fastball now sits at 98 mph, was used mostly as a reliever at Notre Dame. But since the Reds drafted him into pro baseball in the fifth round in 2020, he’s been used as a starting pitcher. He made an impressive debut last year, allowing three earned runs in 16 innings in three starts.

“He’s a great kid, great family,” Vierling said.