Detroit Tigers escape no-hitter but lose to Phillies, 3-2, on Kody Clemens’ walk-off hit

The Detroit Tigers put the baseball world on no-hitter watch in three consecutive games due to their struggles against three right-handed pitchers from the Philadelphia Phillies. In Thursday’s series finale, Zack Wheeler took a no-hitter into the eighth inning.

Tyler Nevin, an unlikely hero, broke up Wheeler’s attempt at a historic accomplishment with a one-out single to right field in the eighth. The hit sparked a comeback, but in the end, the comeback wasn’t enough to end their skid.

The Tigers lost, 3-2, when right-handed reliever Alex Lange allowed two runs in the bottom of the ninth inning. Ex-Tiger Kody Clemens, traded to the Phillies in the offseason, hit a walk-off single to right field.

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The Tigers (26-34) scored five runs, including three runs from Nick Maton’s home run to spoil Aaron Nola’s no-hit bid in Monday’s seventh inning, throughout the three-game series. They posted a .124 batting average and scored eight runs in the six-game, six-loss roadtrip.

Detroit has lost six games in a row and dropped to fourth place in the American League Central.

“It’s the big leagues,” Tigers manager A.J. Hinch told reporters in Philadelphia. “It’s tough love when it comes to that because it’s not going to change. We have to get ourselves together and create a little bit more momentum on our side. We’re a little beat up, mentally and physically, but it’s the big leagues. We need to find a way.”

Late-inning movement

A base hit finally occurred with one out in the eighth inning, thanks to Nevin’s line-drive single off Wheeler’s two-strike sinker. Before Nevin’s hit, Jonathan Schoop reached safely on a fielding error.

Just like that, the Tigers had runners on the corners with two outs, and the Phillies replaced Wheeler with right-handed reliever Seranthony Dominguez. Zack Short dropped a bunt down the first-base line.

Dominguez fielded the ball clearly, but since first baseman Kody Clemens also charged the ball, there wasn’t a play at any base. Jake Marisnick, pinch-running for Schoop, scored on the squeeze bunt to tie the game, 1-1, in the eighth inning.

“We haven’t scored a ton,” Hinch said. “We’re having a hard time pushing runs across. The pitching change gave us a great opportunity to set the play that we wanted. … Once we got to first and third (base), Shorty can handle the bat.”

In the ninth inning, Javier Báez hit a leadoff single off right-handed reliever Craig Kimbrel, and after Spencer Torkelson’s strikeout, he advanced to second base on a throwing error by Kimbrel on a pickoff attempt.

Then, Maton provided a clutch hit for the second time in the series.

Maton, who played for the Phillies in the 2021 and 2022 campaigns, ripped a two-strike knuckle curve through the infield and into right field. Báez scored easily from second base to put the Tigers ahead, 2-1.

“He needs to continue to have some really good at-bats,” Hinch said. “Obviously, he’s working on defending himself against a lot of pitchers and styles. Tonight, it was against the back end (of the bullpen), and it was really nice to see that you don’t always have to homer.”

The Tigers had an opportunity for additional runs with back-to-back walks from Akil Baddoo and Marisnick, but Nevin flew out — 369 feet to center field — to strand the bases loaded.

Lange, the Tigers’ de facto closer, failed to work around Bryce Harper’s double and Trea Turner’s walk to start the bottom of the ninth inning. Bryson Stott loaded the bases with a one-out infield single.

Brandon Marsh tied the game again, 2-2, with a sacrifice fly.

With two outs, Clemens hit a single off Lange’s fourth-pitch 96.8 mph sinker over the heart of the plate to end the game. Clemens, a left-handed hitter, finished 2-for-4 in the series finale and is hitting .267 in 31 games this season.

Starting with a strategy

Hinch entered Thursday’s game with a strategy.

He decided to use left-handed reliever Tyler Holton as a one-inning starter to protect right-hander Reese Olson, in his second MLB appearance, from facing the heart of the Phillies’ batting order in the first inning.

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The strategy worked to perfection.

Holton struck out leadoff hitter Kyle Schwarber on three pitches — finishing him with a down-and-away slider — and walked Nick Castellanos on five pitches. Harper, though, grounded into an inning-ending double play.

Holton threw seven of 13 pitches for strikes and left a clean runway for Olson in the second inning. In his first start, Olson allowed two runs on two hits and one walk with six strikeouts across five innings against the Chicago White Sox.

The real starter takes over

Entering out of the bullpen, Olson picked up where he left off by allowing one run on three hits and one walk with three strikeouts in five innings. The Phillies took a 1-0 lead in the sixth inning.

Olson worked ahead 0-2 in the count against Schwarber, but four consecutive balls walked him. Castellanos responded by jumping a first-pitch sinker for a single to put runners on the corners.

With one out, Harper drilled a sacrifice fly to left field.

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Olson, who threw 52 of 75 pitches for strikes, was lights out in his second appearance at the highest level. He generated 10 whiffs with four sliders, two four-seam fastballs, two changeups and two sinkers.

Meanwhile, Wheeler allowed one run (zero earned runs) on one hit and one walk with eight strikeouts across 7⅓ innings, throwing 75 of 108 pitches for strikes. He got two strikeouts against Schoop, Spencer Torkelson and Eric Haase.

Torkelson, hitting .223, went 0-for-4 with three strikeouts.

Left-handed reliever Chasen Shreve delivered a scoreless seventh inning before the Tigers tied the game, 1-1, in the top of the eighth. Righty reliever Jason Foley protected the score with a scoreless bottom of the eighth.

Contact Evan Petzold at epetzold@freepress.com or follow him on Twitter @EvanPetzold.