DETROIT (AP) — Gunnar Henderson tripled just past the glove of diving first baseman Spencer Torkelson with two outs in the ninth inning for Baltimore’s first hit, and the Detroit Tigers held on for a 1-0 win over the Orioles on Friday night.
Beau Brieske and Brant Hurter (5-1) combined to retire Baltimore’s first 21 batters before Adley Rutschman’s eight-pitch walk leading off the eighth.
“That was an incredibly well-pitched game by all four of our guys tonight,” Tigers manager A.J. Hinch said. “There’s the letdown of the near-miss, but that’s still a shutout of a really good offense.”
Brenan Hanifee followed Hurter and retired the next three batters.
Tyler Holton relieved to start the ninth. Emmanuel Rivera flied out and pinch-hitter Coby Mayo took a called third strike.
Henderson hit Holton’s first pitch – a sweeper – on the ground at 103,2 mph and into the right-field corner.
“It’s a one-run ballgame, so we knew that if someone got on base, we had a chance to run into one for a two-run homer,” Henderson said. “That’s all I was trying to do.”
Henderson became just the second batter to end a no-hit bid with a two-out triple in the ninth, joining the St. Louis Cardinals’ Bernard Gilkey against the Chicago Cubs’ Frank Castillo on Sept. 25, 1995.
Holton struck out Anthony Santander to remain perfect in eight save chances.
“It was a one-run game, so it was really important for him to reset and get set for the next hitter,” Hinch said. “It’s still an agonizing feeling it see Santander coming up with a runner on third and a chance to put them ahead with a big swing.”
Holton, though, didn’t worry about losing the no-hit bid.
“I didn’t even realize it was happening, honestly,” he said. “I just wanted to get us the win.”
Kerry Carpenter, Detroit’s second batter, homered on the third pitch of the game from Zach Eflin (10-9), who allowed five hits in 6 2/3 innings.
“We just didn’t score,” Orioles manager Brandon Hyde said.
Detroit (76-72) started the day 3 1/2 games back of Minnesota for the final AL wild card.
Baltimore (83-65) dropped three games behind the AL East-leading New York Yankees.
Brieske, a 26-year-old right-hander, was planned to start as an opener. He retired four batters while throwing 11 of 16 pitches for strikes.
Hunter, a 26-year-old rookie left-hander, struck out eight in 5 2/3 innings while throwing 53 of 71 pitches for strikes. He started 17 of 18 batters with strikes, including his first 14.
“Give that left-hander a lot of credit — he’s got a funky arm angle and he was pumping strikes,” Hyde said. “We had a tough time staying on him and didn’t center him up all night.”
Hanifee, a 26-year-old rookie right-hander, relieved after Rutschman’s walk and got a pair of strikeouts around a forceout.
The game came three days after rookie Keider Montero faced the minimum 27 batters in a three-hit shutout of Colorado, Detroit’s first complete game since Spencer Turnbull no-hit Seattle on May 18, 2021. Montero and Hurter pitched together last season for Eastern League-champion .
“These young guys have been very important, because they are having experiences they’ve obviously never had at the major-league level,” Hinch said. “But they won together in Erie last year, and believe me, they enjoyed it and we’re all enjoying this.”
UP NEXT
The teams play the second of three games on Saturday evening, with Baltimore RHP Corbin Burnes (13-8, 3.18 ERA) facing a Tigers opener.
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AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb
Dave Hogg, The Associated Press