Detroit – Reese Olson walked off the mound to a roaring standing ovation in the seventh inning Saturday. And, for a change, he walked off with a lead.

Kerry Carpenter got him two runs with his eighth homer of the season in the first inning and the Tigers’ right-hander made that skinny lead hold up into the seventh.

But, as Olson was climbing over 90 pitches, he got into trouble. A walk to Isiah Kiner-Falefa and an error by first baseman Mark Canha and suddenly manager AJ Hinch was hopping out of the dugout.

Kiner-Falefa would score the unearned run on a double by Davis Schneider off reliever Alex Faedo, but Olson had lowered his ERA to 1.92 and was in line for his first pitcher win since Sept. 20.

And, with Jason Foley pitching a scoreless eighth and lefty Tyler Holton pitching around a one-out double in the ninth to earn his first save, the Tigers got him that win, beating the Blue Jays 2-1 before a lively crowd of 35,321 at Comerica Park.

Olson's ovation was well-earned.

The Blue Jays’ plan was to exploit Olson’s reverse splits. Right-handed hitters have done most of the damage against him this year (.296/.322/.370) so Toronto manager John Schneider stacked eight straight right-handed batters against him.

The plan had merit, especially with righties bashing Olson’s sinker at a .362 clip coming into the game.

But Olson was unfazed. He came out attacking with four-seam, sinker and slider just like he always does. The only alteration he made for the flotilla of righties was to mix more changeups, a pitch generally used against left-handed hitters.

He was efficient and he was effective. He allowed just one hit – a triple to the only lefty in the lineup (Kevin Kiermaier) through four innings. With Kiermaier on third with one out in the third, Olson struck out Davis Schneider and got Justin Turner – both with changeups.

Olson found himself facing Turner again in the fifth, this time with the bases loaded and two outs. The inning was created by a single, a bunt single and a two-out walk.

Over his 16-year career, Turner has an OPS with runners in scoring position of .882, .883 with runners in scoring position and two outs. He’s been one of the best clutch hitters in the game.

Olson didn’t flinch. He threw him four straight sinkers and then dropped a changeup. Judging by the ugly half-swing on the ball in the dirt, it had to be the last pitch Turner expected.

The Blue Jays mustered only three hits. Olson struck out four and got 10 ground ball outs.

Shortstop Javier Baez, though he grounded out three times against his brother-in-law and Blue Jays’ starter Jose Berrios, played a spectacular game at shortstop. He made nine assists.

He made one of two sterling plays in the seventh that helped preserve the lead. First, left fielder Riley Greene made a sliding stop of Schneider’s double. He got up quick and fired the ball in to hold Clement, the tying run, at third.

Baez, then, charged an in-between hop, making a tough play look easy, to retire Turner and end the inning.

Carpenter has been on fire. He came in fourth in the American League with a .553 slugging percentage and hit his second homer in two games. It was his seventh extra-base hit in nine games.

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