The Tigers logged the franchise’s first-ever combined no-hitter Saturday, thanks in no small part to starter Matt Manning’s 6 2/3 innings on the mound. The no-no was finished by relievers Jason Foley and Alex Lange, but apparently, Manning had no idea that he hadn’t allowed a hit prior to his exit.
“Honestly, I swear I had no idea,” Manning said after the 2–0 win over the Blue Jays, according to the Detroit Free Press. “After I had a scuffle in the first, I was just trying to eat up innings. We had a two-run lead, so I was trying to protect that lead.”
The game didn’t start ideally for Manning. There was an 82-minute delay due to inclement weather, and his first inning was spent trying to pitch through rain. He was forced to switch baseballs every other pitch and had to constantly dry his hands.
Manning, the No. 9 pick in the 2016 MLB draft, hit Bo Bichette with a pitch and walked Brandon Belt in the opening inning, but he didn’t lose focus. The 25-year-old bounced back and ended his day with five strikeouts on 91 pitches.
Detroit manager A.J. Hinch was booed when he went to the mound to pull Manning from the game in the seventh inning. Still, Manning didn’t quite realize what was taking place.
“I thought it was a bunch of Toronto fans,” Manning said, per the Free Press.
Foley then pitched 1 1/3 innings, and Lange earned the save by pitching the ninth inning as the Tigers recorded the ninth no-hitter in team history.
