Carpenter becomes October star as 9th inning homer off Clase sends Tigers to 3-0 win over Guardians

CLEVELAND (AP) — Kerry Carpenter took one swing and floored baseball's preeminent closer.

Carpenter connected for a three-run homer off Cleveland's Emmanuel Clase with two outs and two strikes in the ninth inning, sending the Detroit Tigers to a dramatic 3-0 win over the Guardians i n Game 2 on Monday night to even the AL Division Series at one game each.

After Jake Rogers and Trey Sweeney singled off the usually unhittable Clase, Carpenter drove a 2-2 pitch from the right-hander 423 feet into the right-field seats.

It was another one of those October moments that can define a player, and the fact he did it off Clase wasn't lost on Carpenter.

“It is special because I don’t know how many runs or home runs he’s given up this year,” Carpenter said. "It's pretty fun to be a part of this and to do it off of him is special, because he’s literally the best closer in the game."

Carpenter became the first player to hit a two-out, two-strike homer in the ninth inning since Kirk Gibson's memorable shot off Dennis Eckersley in Game 1 of the 1988 World Series.

He was the third Detroit player to hit a go-ahead homer in the ninth inning or later in the playoffs, joining Magglio Ordóñez (2006) and Hall of Famer Al Kaline (1972).

As Carpenter rounded the bases, his helmet flew off between first and second base. When he came around third, he slapped hands with coach Joey Cora before getting to the plate and extending both arms above his head in celebration.

From there it was one hug and high-five after another in Detroit's rocking dugout.

It was just the third homer allowed this season by Clase, who led the AL with 47 saves. The right-hander gave up just five earned runs in 74 games all season.

“We're talking about one of the greatest seasons of all time,” Guardians catcher Austin Hedges said. “Guys don't even get on base against him.”

But after Rogers and Sweeney did their part, Carpenter, known by his teammates as “Kerry Bonds,” got a pitch he could drive and didn't miss.

Tigers manager A.J. Hinch was more than happy that Carpenter was next in line for Detroit.

“Obviously, Kerry we want him up to bat as often as we can in those moments,” said Hinch, who had Carpenter pinch-hit in the eighth. "He can change the scoreboard. He can change the game. He does it time after time.”

Carpenter was one of several Tigers players who missed time with injuries this season, out from May 26 to Aug. 13 with a lumbar spine stress fracture. He finished with 18 homers in 87 games.

The Guardians and Tigers swapped zeroes as pitchers dominated, Detroit ace Tarik Skubal for seven innings and Cleveland's Matthew Boyd for 4 2/3 before manager Stephen Vogt turned the game over to his vaunted bullpen — led by Clase.

Carpenter sensed one of the teams was going to break the deadlock.

As his ball sailed toward the stands in Progressive Field, Carpenter went from pinch-hitter to postseason star.

“Somebody was going to get a big hit at some point, either for us or them, and it happened to be us,” he said. “I don’t know if I can describe it, but yeah, I knew it was gone, and it was just an amazing feeling being able to come through for this team.”

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eah. I wasn’t sitting on it, but I was just on time for his hardest pitch and that cutter, and I was like zoning in for it to start in a certain zone, and my instincts took over and he missed a spot, so I took advantage of it.

or carpenter, out with lumbar spine stress fracture from May 26 to Aug. 13. He hit .226 in first eight games back (7 for 31) but did have four homers.

Cleveland Guardians catcher Bo Naylor, left, and Detroit Tigers' Kerry Carpenter, right, watch Carpenter's three-run home run in the ninth inning during Game 2 of baseball's AL Division Series, Monday, Oct. 7, 2024, in Cleveland. (AP Photo/Phil Long)

Detroit Tigers' Kerry Carpenter celebrates as he runs the bases with a three-run home run in the ninth inning during Game 2 of baseball's AL Division Series against the Cleveland Guardians, Monday, Oct. 7, 2024, in Cleveland. (AP Photo/David Dermer)

Detroit Tigers' Kerry Carpenter hits a three-rum home run in the ninth inning during Game 2 of baseball's AL Division Series against the Cleveland Guardians, Monday, Oct. 7, 2024, in Cleveland. (AP Photo/David Dermer)

Detroit Tigers' Trey Sweeney (27) and Jake Rogers wait at home plate for teammate Kerry Carpenter after Carpenter hit a three-run home run in the ninth inning during Game 2 of baseball's AL Division Series against the Cleveland Guardians, Monday, Oct. 7, 2024, in Cleveland. (AP Photo/David Dermer)

Detroit Tigers' Kerry Carpenter runs the bases with a three-run home run in the ninth inning during Game 2 of baseball's AL Division Series against the Cleveland Guardians, Monday, Oct. 7, 2024, in Cleveland. (AP Photo/David Dermer)

Detroit Tigers' Trey Sweeney (27) and Jake Rogers wait at home plate for teammate Kerry Carpenter (30) after Carpenter hit a three-run home run in the ninth inning during Game 2 of baseball's AL Division Series against the Cleveland Guardians, Monday, Oct. 7, 2024, in Cleveland. (AP Photo/David Dermer)

LAS VEGAS (AP) — Federal prosecutors in Nevada have dismissed a long-dormant sex abuse case against Nathan Chasing Horse.

The dismissal of the federal case was granted Oct. 1. The former “Dances with Wolves” actor had been charged in that case with two counts of sexual exploitation of children and one count of possession of child sexual abuse material.

Prosecutors moved to dismiss the case without prejudice, meaning the charges can be refiled, on Sept. 27. That’s a day after the Nevada Supreme Court ordered the dismissal of another indictment in state court against Chasing Horse, which was finalized late Friday.

The federal charges stemmed from the same allegations that led to Chasing Horse’s now-dismissed state indictment.

Federal prosecutors took no action in the case after filing the complaint in February 2023.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP’s earlier story follows below.

LAS VEGAS (AP) — Prosecutors in Las Vegas have filed a new case against Nathan Chasing Horse that accuses the former “Dances With Wolves” actor of possessing and producing explicit videos of a minor.

The charges were filed late Friday, the same day authorities finalized the dismissal of Chasing Horse 's sweeping sex abuse indictment in Clark County District Court under an order from the Nevada Supreme Court that leaves open the possibility of charges being refiled.

District Attorney Steve Wolfson has said his office intends to refile the charges, which included sexual assault of a minor, kidnapping and child abuse.

In the new case, Chasing Horse faces one felony count each of possessing and producing child sexual abuse materials. He is being held on $200,000 bail.

Prosecutors said Monday in court that Chasing Horse, 48, recorded videos of himself having sex with one of his accusers when she was younger than 14. In at least one video, the girl was “fully passed out," prosecutor William Rowles said.

When Rowles described the videos, Chasing Horse closed his eyes and shook his head.

Rowles said the footage, taken in 2010 or 2011, were found on cellphones in a locked safe inside the North Las Vegas home that Chasing Horse is said to have shared with five wives, including the girl in the videos.

His defense attorney, Kristy Holston, declined to comment after court Monday. Rowles also said he had no comment.

The dismissal of his 18-count indictment was ordered in late September by the Nevada Supreme Court, after Holston successfully argued that a definition of grooming — presented to the grand jury without expert testimony — had tainted the state's case, and that prosecutors should have shared with the grand jury inconsistent statements made by one of the victims.

The indictment was dismissed without prejudice, meaning prosecutors can refile the charges. Prosecutors haven't said when they plan to present their case to a new grand jury.

Chasing Horse has been jailed in Las Vegas since his arrest last January. But the case, which sent shockwaves throughout Indian Country and led to more criminal charges in the U.S. and Canada, had been at a standstill for more than a year while he challenged it.

Best known for portraying the character Smiles A Lot in the 1990 film “Dances with Wolves," the former actor was born on the Rosebud Reservation in South Dakota, which is home to the Sicangu Sioux, one of the seven tribes of the Lakota nation.

In the decades since starring in the Oscar-winning movie, authorities say he built a reputation as a self-proclaimed medicine man among tribes and traveled around North America to perform healing ceremonies.

He's accused of using that position to gain access to vulnerable girls and women starting in the early 2000s, leading a cult and taking underage wives.

FILE - Nathan Chasing Horse sits in Las Vegas court, April 3, 2023. (AP Photo/Ty O'Neil, File)

FILE - Nathan Chasing Horse is led out of the courtroom after being arraigned at North Las Vegas Justice Court, Feb. 2, 2023. (Bizuayehu Tesfaye/Las Vegas Review-Journal via AP, File)