From no-hitter to no win: Detroit Tigers can't close deal in 2-1 loss to New York Mets

NEW YORK — The Detroit Tigers weren't going to go 162-0.

But as they tried to make it to 6-0, they had a combined no-hitter into the eighth inning.

However, the Tigers (5-1) didn't complete the no-hitter, losing 2-1 to the New York Mets in Game 2 of Thursday's doubleheader at Citi Field, falling one win shy of sweeping the doubleheader, the three-game series and the six-game road trip.

Tyrone Taylor hit a walk-off single against right-handed reliever Alex Faedo in the bottom of the ninth inning.

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Right-hander Matt Manning, called up from Triple-A Toledo as the 27th man for Thursday's doubleheader, completed 5⅔ hitless innings on 90 pitches to jumpstart the no-hit bid, which was broken up in the eighth inning.

Harrison Bader hit a leadoff bloop single off left-handed reliever Tyler Holton.

It had a 69.3 mph exit velocity.

Bader reached for a down-and-away changeup with two strikes and poked the ball into left field. The ball landed between left fielder Mark Canha, center fielder Parker Meadows and shortstop Javier Báez.

The single snapped 13 consecutive hitless innings by Tigers pitching, going back to Game 1 of Thursday's doubleheader.

The leadoff single from Bader in the eighth inning might have been lucky, but the leadoff home run from Pete Alonso in the ninth inning wasn't cheap. He hammered a low changeup from right-handed reliever Faedo for a solo home run.

The homer tied the game, 1-1.

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The lone run

The Tigers faced right-hander José Buttó in Game 2 of the doubleheader.

It didn't take long for the Tigers to score.

In the second inning, Colt Keith worked a leadoff walk to set the table. He stole second base on Andy Ibáñez's swinging strikeout and advanced to third base on a throwing error by catcher Omar Narváez.

Báez slapped a second-pitch curveball into shallow right-center field to score Keith from third base. The Tigers took a 1-0 lead on Báez's single and didn't squander the one-run margin for the remainder of the game.

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Buttó allowed one run on three hits and three walks with six strikeouts across six innings.

The Tigers finished with five hits and four walks but only one run.

Matt Manning arrives

Manning, who was optioned to Triple-A Toledo at the end of spring training, walked four batters across his 5⅔ innings. He gave free passes to Brandon Nimmo in the first inning, Tyrone Taylor in the second inning, Nimmo in the third inning and Nimmo in the sixth inning.

He also racked up three strikeouts.

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In the sixth, Manning followed his third walk to Nimmo (and fourth total walk) by retiring dangerous hitters Francisco Lindor and Alonso. After that, Holton, a left-handed reliever, replaced Manning.

Holton struck out Brett Baty, a left-handed hitter, on three consecutive pitches for called strikes. All three pitchers — one slider and two sinkers — were painted on the down-and-away corner.

As for Manning, he threw 41 fastballs, 36 sweepers, six sliders, six curveballs and one splitter. He generated seven whiffs with two fastballs, three sweepers, one slider and one curveball.

His fastball averaged 93.2 mph.

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

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This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Detroit Tigers can't close near no-hitter, lose 2-1 to New York Mets