After riding high from their three-game sweep against the White Sox to open the season, the Tigers headed to New York to take on a team struggling to get their first W of the year, in the New York Mets. The pitching matchup saw Sean Manaea take on Reese Olson. Manaea was incredibly dialed in with a perfect game through four until he walked Riley Greene in the fifth, a tight performance that overshadowed a relatively strong start from Olson.
Let’s take a look at the classic pitcher’s duel (at least through 6) at Citi Field.
The Tigers went 1-2-3 quickly in the top of the first, showing that Manaea was not planning to give an inch. In the bottom half of the inning Olson had some initial struggles, hitting Brandon Nimmo with a pitch, then walking Francisco Lindor to put two men on. A popout and double play ended the inning in short order, getting Olson out of his jam,
The second started with another three-up-three-down inning for the Tigers. In the bottom half, Olson allowed a one-out single to Starling Marte, but the next two batters went down in order, ending the inning 0-0.
The third inning went 1-2-3 for both sides.
Again, the Tigers were unable to get a man aboard in the top of the fourth. In the bottom of the inning DJ Stewart got a two-out walk but the Mets weren’t able to capitalize.
Riley Greene busted Manaea’s perfect game with a leadoff walk in the fifth inning, but with three outs to follow, it didn’t do much for the Tigers. With one out in the bottom of the fifth, Harrison Bader singled, but Olson got the next two outs and the score remained goose eggs all around.
The Tigers continued to pick away in the sixth with Carson Kelly drawing a one-out walk. Kelly successfully stole second. Andy Ibanez then ended the no-hitter, but the inning ended with Kelly getting tagged out heading home, so the Tigers put in some hustle but had no score to show for it. In the sixth, a two-out double to Francisco Alvarez was the end of the night for Olson, who gave way to Will Vest. Olson’s final line for the night was 5.2 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 2 BB, 3 K on 93 pitches. The inning ended with a nice catch near the dugout by Canha.
Manaea was likewise done after the sixth, with Jorge Lopez coming in for the top of the seventh. Mark Canha got a two-out walk, but despite Jake Rogers making a solid effort at hitting a ball right to the dead zone in right field, the ball was foul and Rogers ultimately struck out to end the inning. Alex Faedo was next out of the pen, and gave up a leadoff single to Starling Marte, but three tuned-in strikeouts followed to end the inning.
Brooks Raley replaced Lopez in the eighth. Javier Baez got a one-out single, but an inning-ending double play followed, leaving the game (you guessed it) scoreless. Faedo continued in the bottom of the inning, issuing a leadoff walk to Brandon Nimmo. Faedo kept his cool, though, getting the next three outs.
Edwin Diaz was out of the pen for the ninth, facing pinch-hitters aplenty as Zach McKinstry and Kerry Carpenter both came in only to strike out. Diaz made quick work of the Tigers, and the game headed into the bottom of the ninth, still scoreless. Jason Foley, certified workhorse, was the next reliever on, hoping to take the Tigers into extras. Brett Baty got a two-out single but it wasn’t enough to walk things off, and into extras we go.
Michael Tonkin was the next Mets reliever to chip away at the Tigers. Torkelson was the Tigers’ baserunner at second, and advanced to third on a Riley Greene groundout. Canha was hit by a pitch to put men on the corners. Colt Keith came in for his first-ever pinch hit, Keith hit the ball to Joey Wendle, who bobbled it, getting Keith safely to first and an RBI to bring Torkelson home, and the first run of the game. Gio Urshela hit the ball right back to Tonkin, who handled it poorly, allowing Urshela to reach and load the bases. Javier Baez fouled a ball off the inner part of his foot in what looked to be very painful, but with no one left on the bench, Hinch needed him to walk it off. Baez came through, hitting a sac fly that scored a pinch-running Parker Meadows. Carson Kelly brought his boomstick, hitting a three-run homer to put the Tigers up 5-0. They most certainly felt pretty good about that effort.
Shelby Miller was the Tigers’ reliever for the bottom of the tenth, working with a nice, healthy lead. Miller didn’t even break a sweat as his had a nice 1-2-3 to end the game, and the Tigers continue on their unbroken winning streak.