The Detroit Tigers’ Kerry Carpenter, right, reacts as he rounds third base on a home run next to third base coach Joey Cora in the sixth inning against the Orioles on Sunday in Baltimore. (AP photo)

BALTIMORE — Kerry Carpenter homered twice, Parker Meadows made a home run-saving grab and the surging Detroit Tigers gained ground in the American League wild card race with a 4-3 victory over the Baltimore Orioles on Sunday.

Carpenter’s third multi-home run game of the season ensured the Tigers their first winning season since 2016 as Detroit (82-74) matched Kansas City (82-74) and moved a full game in front of Minnesota (81-75) for the final AL wild card spot.

“We still have a long way to go, so we’re going to stay grounded,” said Tigers manager A.J. Hinch. “But both things can happen — we can be proud of what we’re doing and we can stay grounded and look forward to the next series.”

The Twins lost both ends of a split doubleheader in Boston on Sunday after those teams were rained out on Saturday. Both the Royals and Twins would finish ahead of the Tigers if they end up with the same record, as each of those Tigers’ foes went 7-6 against Detroit this season.

Seattle trails the Tigers by just two games, but if those teams need a tiebreaker, Detroit has the advantage as the Tigers were 5-1 vs. the Mariners this season.

The Tigers have won 11 of their last 14, and going further back, 27 of their past 38. They are now eight games over .500 as opposed to when they were eight games under at 55-63 on Aug. 10, trailing the third wild card spot by 10 games.

Baltimore (86-70) lost its fifth consecutive series and fell 5 1/2 games behind New York (91-64) in the AL East race with six to play but is still four games ahead of Kansas City and Detroit for the top wild card spot.

However, the Orioles have two tough series to end the season — three games at the Yankees starting Tuesday, then three more at Minnesota beginning Friday. They need three wins in those six games to guarantee they’ll hold onto the No. 1 wild card spot.

In case of the same records, and with the first tiebreaker being head to head, Detroit won the season series vs. Baltimore 4-2, while the Orioles prevailed over KC by the same 4-2 margin.

“We had a great chance to win last night, didn’t get it done,” said Orioles manager Brandon Hyde. “We had a chance today also. I thought we just had some unfortunate breaks today.”

Spencer Torkelson homered off Orioles right-hander Albert Suarez (8-7) and Trey Sweeney contributed an RBI double as the Tigers took a 2-0 lead.

Carpenter hit the first of his two homers in the third to make it 3-0.

Cedric Mullins connected with a two-run shot for Baltimore. Jordan Westburg added an RBI double in his first game since July 31 (right wrist fracture) to complete a three-run fifth and tie things up at 3-3.

The damage would’ve been greater without Meadows’ leaping grab over the wall in right-center to deny Colton Cowser a two-run homer off Sean Guenther (2-0) and end the inning.

“I was getting ready to jump at the wall,” said Carpenter, who was in right field with Meadows in center. “And then I saw him. He was locked on that thing.”

Carpenter led off the sixth with his second deep shot and 17th of the season, which cleared the front of the grounds crew shed in right by a few feet.

“It’s huge,” Carpenter said. “They could’ve taken a two-run lead and then two minutes later I hit the homer and we’re up by one. So it changes the entire game.”

From there, Brenan Hanifee and Will Vest bridged the gap to Jason Foley, who worked a perfect ninth for his 26th save.

—————

TRAINER’S ROOM

Tigers: INF Colt Keith (right shoulder) made his first defensive start since Tuesday, playing second base. … Hanifee took Ramon Urías’ sixth-inning liner off the left thigh but remained in the game.

Orioles: Reinstated Westburg and Urías (right ankle sprain) from the 10-day injured list and optioned OF Daniel Johnson and INF Livan Soto to Triple-A Norfolk.

—————

UP NEXT

Tigers: Will return to using a conventional starter to begin a home series against Tampa Bay on Tuesday when AL Cy Young contender Tarik Skubal (17-4, 2.48 ERA) makes his 31st start.

Orioles: Dean Kremer (7-10, 4.19) will try to complete six-plus innings for a fourth consecutive start to open Tuesday’s series at the New York Yankees.