Inside the Article:
A truly historic afternoon at Comerica Park today, as Matt Manning, Jason Foley and Alex Lange all combined to throw what would be the first-ever combined no-hitter in the history of the Detroit Tigers in their 2-0 win over the Toronto Blue Jays.
Matt Manning claimed not to know he was working on a no-hitter
Despite a rain delay that pushed the game's start time back, it was Manning who cruised through the afternoon and struck out five opposition batters while throwing 91 pitches. He was lifted from the game in the 7th inning by manager A.J. Hinch to a chorus of boos from the over 30,000 in attendance, many of whom wanted to see him get a chance at history himself.
But as Manning put it, he had no idea that he was working on a no-no, and thought the boos were coming from the plentiful Blue Jays fans in attendance.
Honestly, I swear I had no idea,” Manning said. “I was just trying to protect the lead, and I figured ‘Well we got (Jason) Foley in, let's go win the game.'”
A.J. Hinch explains the reasoning for lifting Manning from the game
Hinch would state that Manning explained to him that he felt something was off during the 2nd inning, but was able to power through it. He even thought about removing him earlier than he ultimately did.
“He was laboring a ton,” Hinch said. “His stuff was getting worse. I almost took him out after the fifth. I almost took him out after the sixth. I sent him out for the seventh. As soon as the runner got on, the responsibility shifts to the game.”
“Really cool win for us,” Hinch continued. “You stick around long enough, you see so much stuff in baseball. The game started in the mist and rain and finished with a combined no-hitter….it's a pretty loud clubhouse in there celebrating a group of performances that will be memorable.”
Key Points
- The Tigers threw a combined no-hitter, the first in their history
- Matt Manning said afterward that he had no idea that he was working on a no-hitter
- A.J. Hinch explained he nearly lifted Manning from the game earlier than he did
Bottom Line
Baseball is indeed a fickle sport, as the Tigers went from allowing 12 runs against the Blue Jays to making team history with a combined no-hitter less than 24 hours later.
Congratulations to Matt Manning along with Jason Foley and Alex Lange for their part in a historic afternoon!
