CHICAGO — The Detroit Tigers lost, but Reese Olson won.
Making his MLB debut, the 23-year-old prospect showed the Tigers that he belonged in the rotation, replacing injured ace Eduardo Rodriguez, by taking a no-hitter into the sixth inning.
The Tigers lost, 3-0, to the Chicago White Sox in Friday’s opener of a three-game series at Guaranteed Rate Field. The offense couldn’t capitalize in the big moments, finishing 0-for-9 with runners in scoring position, and the bullpen couldn’t escape trouble following Olson’s departure.
“From a team perspective, we didn’t push anything across when we had multiple runners on (base) in four of the nine innings,” Tigers manager A.J. Hinch said. “That’s pretty frustrating. We needed a big hit or just advancing 90 (feet) and creating some opportunities for ourselves.”
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But Olson, a right-hander, led the Tigers (26-29) by throwing a season-high 89 pitches and keeping the White Sox from scoring through five innings. He became the first Tiger to throw at least five no-hit innings in his big-league debut since Bill Slayback tossed seven no-hit innings in June 1972.
“It’s a day I’ll never forget,” Olson said. “It was great to have my family and a bunch of friends here to experience it with me. As far as my outing, I thought I did pretty well. Maybe got a little tired in the sixth inning. Other than that, everything was working for me.”
Olson, who posted a 6.38 ERA across 36⅔ innings in 10 starts with Triple-A Toledo, gave up back-to-back hits to Romy Gonzalez and Tim Anderson to start the sixth inning.
Right-handed reliever Will Vest entered, but couldn’t escape the jam. Both runners scored on singles, from Andrew Benintendi and Eloy Jimenez, for a 2-0 White Sox lead. Olson was charged with both runs.
He walked one batter and posted six strikeouts.
“The first inning is probably the one with the most adrenaline going,” Olson said. “To get through that one clean and settle in after that, and then getting through the lineup a second time, as well, was big for me.”
Olson, who threw 58 of 89 pitches for strikes, threw 34% sliders, 25% four-seam fastballs, 21% sinkers, 15% changeups and 6% curveballs. He generated 12 swings and misses (with six sliders and six changeups) while adding 16 called strikes.
His fastball averaged 95.8 mph but didn’t get any whiffs.
“He was calm, he was in control, he was nasty,” Hinch said. “He should take away a lot of pride that he came in and showed that he could pitch at this level. First start against a team that thrives on momentum, he never really gave them momentum until the very last inning.”
Before the sixth, only two hitters reached safely against Olson: Andrew Vaughn on a five-pitch walk in the second inning and Yasmani Grandal on a fielding error by first baseman Spencer Torkelson in the fifth inning.
Olson struck out Luis Robert in the first inning for the first strikeout of his career.
“It was awesome,” Olson said. “Having that outing tonight, knowing that I can pitch in this league, it’s a big confidence boost going forward.”
Dueling arms
White Sox right-hander Mike Clevinger retired the first 11 batters he faced before Javier Báez’s triple — and hip-thrust celebration — with two outs in the fourth inning. He was the Tigers’ first runner of the game.
A walk by Torkelson gave the Tigers two runners in scoring position for Nick Maton. He battled until chasing a seventh-pitch fastball outside the strike zone for a swinging strikeout, stranding the runners.
Maton struck out twice against Clevinger.
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The Tigers had their next scoring opportunity in the fifth inning, thanks to Miguel Cabrera’s 403-foot single off the wall in center field. Just as important was winning a challenge on what otherwise would have been an inning-ending double play.
Reversing the call on the field put runners on the corners — Cabrera on third base and Jake Marisnick on first base — with two outs for Zach McKinstry.
McKinstry flew out to deep left-center field.
Clevinger, who features a funky delivery, pitched five scoreless innings in his first start since returning from the injured list (right wrist inflammation). He gave up three hits and one walk with six strikeouts.
Two on, no luck
Another scoring opportunity arrived in the seventh inning, but once again, the Tigers stranded runners against right-handed reliever Reynaldo Lopez. Eric Haase doubled — his ball got past Robert in center field — and Cabrera walked.
The next three batters were retired: Andy Ibáñez grounded into a force out, pinch-hitter Tyler Nevin popped out and McKinstry grounded out. On McKinstry’s groundout, Gonzalez made a sliding play to keep the ball from sneaking into the outfield.
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The White Sox extended their lead to 3-0 in the bottom of the seventh with Anderson’s double down the left-field line off right-handed reliever Mason Englert. Lefty reliever Chasen Shreve walked Grandal, who scored on Anderson’s double, before getting the first two outs.
Two more runners were stranded by the Tigers, facing righty reliever Joe Kelly, in the top of the eighth inning. After Akil Baddoo (walk) and Báez (single) reached safely, Torkelson struck out swinging, Maton struck out swinging and Haase grounded out.
Maton, hitting .162, finished 0-for-4 with three strikeouts.
Contact Evan Petzold at epetzold@freepress.com or follow him on Twitter @EvanPetzold.