'Fighting' Tigers rally late, dump Mets in 11 innings in Game 1 to remain unbeaten

New York — The Tigers waited seven innings for a big hit and in the eighth, Riley Greene delivered.

He was 1 for 17 on the season when he came to bat against right-handed reliever Adam Ottavino with one out in the eighth and the Tigers down 3-2. At that point, the Tigers were 0 for 5 with runners in scoring position. But Greene locked onto a hanging slider in the middle of the strike zone and pummeled it.

The ball left his bat at 106 mph and flew 394 feet to right-center, his second homer of the season.

"We were fighting the whole game," said third baseman Gio Urshela, who would deliver a big hit of his own. "So when Riley hit that homer to tie the game, that was a good sign for us. Thank God we were able to win that game."

As it turned out, on a chilly (43 degrees) and windy day at Citi Field, after two straight rainouts, that one big hit got the Tigers to extra innings where, like they did in the series opener Tuesday, they broke the game open, scoring three times in the 11th and beating the Mets 6-3 in the first game of a make-up doubleheader.

BOX SCORE: Tigers 6, Mets 3 (11 innings)

"This is a really good team and we're fighting," Urshela said. "We aren't putting our heads down or anything like that. Just continue to work."

Greene singled in the 11th, sending free runner Andy Ibanez to third. Ibanez, though, was thrown out at the plate trying to score on a hard grounder by Matt Vierling hit right at third baseman Brett Baty.

But rookie Colt Keith, who was 1 for 18 at the time, smacked an opposite-field double against a steady breeze to the wall in left-center scoring Greene. Urshela then delivered a two-out, two-run single.

All that damage was against right-hander Michael Tonkin, who the Tigers' scored five unearned runs against in the 10th inning on Tuesday.

"We feel good about where we're at; we have for a few weeks going back to spring training," said Casey Mize, who made his first big-league start since April 14, 2022. "There's things we need to improve upon and build upon, but it's a really good start."

Shelby Miller, who pitched a scoreless 10th, stranded the free runner again in the 11th to secure the Tigers' fifth straight win to start the season. They were, at that point, the last unbeaten team in baseball.

It was the fifth straight loss for the Mets, all at home.

The Tigers' bullpen, again, was oppressive. Five relievers covered 6.2 innings without allowing a run and just one hit.

"That gives us a lot of confidence," Urshela said.

Joey Wentz (1.2 innings), Alex Lange, Andrew Chafin, Jason Foley and Miller (two innings) shut the Mets down.

Foley calmly pitched through a tense bottom of the ninth. Brandon Nimmo led off with a walk and stole second. Foley struck out Francisco Lindor and seemed to pitch around Pete Alonso. If he did, it was as smart move.

Francisco Alvarez followed, hitting into a 1-4-3 double-play to send the game into the 10th inning.

Miller struck out four and stranded the free runner in the two extra innings.

"This team deserves better than what I gave them today," said Mize, who was charged with all three runs in 4.1 innings. "But they picked me up. The bullpen has been awesome and the guys are coming up with timely hits. Things are clicking. But we're always going to keep striving.

"What we've shown is good but not enough."

For Mize, it had been 721 days between starts and despite the line score, his stuff was playing well.

"I felt a lot out there," he said, of a start that was delayed by the two rainouts. "Just excitement, pride and joy, even if I struggled at times. The box score wasn't good but just super proud of the work I put in and the people who have helped me get back.

"Just super happy to be back and competing in the big leagues with my team."

Out for nearly two years recovering from back and elbow surgeries, it was a couple of misfires and one fluky hit that hastened his quick exit.

He got through the first two innings in an efficient with 30 pitches. He showed the rejuvenated four-seam fastball that helped him win the rotation battle this spring. He threw 97 mph and 96 mph heaters past Alonso in the first inning. He also had a darting splitter early, using it to punch out Tyrone Taylor to end the second.

But after he got two fast outs in the third, he hit a speed bump. He hit Lindor with an 0-1 curveball and Alonso, way out in front of a 1-1 slider, rolled a single through the vacant right side of the infield. Keith, the second baseman, was shaded up the middle against the right-handed hitting Alonso.

Mize then got ahead of Alvarez 0-2 but let him back into the count. The 2-2 pitch was a splitter on the inside black, but it was up and Alvarez barreled it into the left field corner — two-run double.

"I did some things today that I really, really likes," he said. "I think the split was a really good pitch for me. I liked my fastball a lot. I think I should've thrown more than I did. Felt like I was a little slider happy today. I think I could've ended some at-bats earlier with fastballs.

"I made some mistakes, obviously hitting Lindor with a curveball. But if you look beyond the box score, I think I did some things today I'm really happy about."

When Alonso unleashed a single with an exit velocity of 113 mph with one out in the fourth, manager AJ Hinch had seen enough.

Mize ended up throwing 87 pitches, 56 strikes. He got 10 swings and misses, five with his splitter on 12 swings.

chris.mccosky@detroitnews.com

@cmccosky