CLEVELAND — Matt Manning sat in the Tigers’ dugout at Progressive Field well after his outing was over in Monday’s eventual 13-5 Tigers loss. One teammate after another walked over with a pat on the shoulder. A couple of them sat down with him to offer words of encouragement. All the while, he soaked in what quickly became a rough learning experience.
On a night when Miguel Cabrera enjoyed a historic moment with his 493rd home run, tying Lou Gehrig and Fred McGriff for 28th on the MLB all-time list, Matt Manning’s third big league start quickly became a teachable moment. From a competitive standpoint, his rough night was apparent after Austin Hedges’ two-run homer in the second inning built a 5-1 deficit.
In another situation, with a more stable Tigers rotation, that might have been it for Manning. But with José Ureña set to start Tuesday having lasted just 9 2/3 innings over his last three outings combined, and Wily Peralta starting Wednesday’s series finale on short rest, manager A.J. Hinch let Manning work through his early struggles.
For a while, it worked. Manning rebounded from five hits his first turn through Cleveland’s order to allow just a single and a hit batter his second time through. His third time against the top of the Indians’ lineup, however, turned a rough outing into an ugly one.
Cesar Hernandez doubled home Ernie Clement with a line drive off the wall in the right-field corner. Amed Rosario continued the inning with an infield single. No sooner had Tigers pitching coach Chris Fetter returned to the dugout from his mound visit than José Ramírez provided the exclamation point with a drive down the right-field line for a three-run homer and a 9-2 Cleveland lead.