Tigers DH Points to ‘God’s Grace’ for Game-Winning Home Run
By Movieguide® Contributor
Detroit Tigers designated hitter (DH) Kerry Carpenter is living the dream after hitting a game-winning walk-off home run.
Per Sports Spectrum, “Carpenter entered the game in the eighth inning, and as he approached home plate for his second at-bat in the top of the ninth, his Tigers were tied with the Guardians, 0-0. The Tigers hadn’t been able to get a run across the plate yet in the best-of-five American League Division Series, as they lost Game 1 on Saturday, 7-0.”
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As the DH swung, the ball “came off Carpenter’s bat at 110.8 mph, the hardest hit of Carpenter’s career.”
In an on-field interview after the game, he told TNT, “I just received a whole lot of God’s grace right there.”
Later on in his post-game press conference, Carpenter discussed how special that moment was for him.
“It is special, because I don’t know how many runs, or home runs at least, [Clase has] given up this year,” he said. “So I feel like it’s a lot of God’s grace right now, and it’s pretty fun to be a part of this.”
Carpenter doesn’t shy away from sharing his faith. His Instagram bio reads, “Jesus is Lord.”
It also includes the verses John 16:33 and 2 Corinthians 12:9-10.
John 16:33 reads:
“I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”
2 Corinthians 12:9-10 reads:
But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.
In a post from 2022, Carpenter wrote, “I pray that people look at this moment and ascribe glory to the name of Jesus, this is a blessing to an unworthy servant! Through God’s never ending grace and richness in mercy, I will rejoice in the Lord always!”
Movieguide® recently reported on Carpenter’s faith:
Detroit Tigers right fielder Kerry Carpenter is on a mission to help his team win a World Series title and share the love of Jesus.
But faith wasn’t always his priority. Amid the chaos of the pandemic in 2020, Carpenter’s dad died. The tragedy inspired the athlete to take his grief and questions to God, and he dedicated his life to Christ for the first time.
“It just kind of manifested in freedom and peace that Christ gave me on the field because that’s something that before I knew Christ I never had,” he told Sports Spectrum of how his faith changed his perspective. “Never. Never played a baseball game in freedom or peace.”
Carpenter returned to Sports Spectrum’s podcast in January and shared how God is using what he went through as a testimony for others.
“One of my purposes, I really feel, is that God has put me here to go through those ups and downs and to show that my ups and downs don’t affect my identity,” he revealed. “That’s something I always think about, always want to be a witness. I always want to be an ambassador.”
“That’s really my goal, is to play free,” he added. “My goal is to reach my full potential, and I believe that the only way you can reach your full potential is in Christ.”