Toledo, Ohio — On a glorious Mother’s Day at Fifth Third Field, Matt Manning bought the Mud Hens some doughnuts and won the fans some ice cream.
And, oh, he also threw three impressive innings in his first step back toward rejoining the Tigers rotation.
On Sunday, Manning made his first injury rehab start since going on the injured list with right shoulder inflammation, and he was pleased to report he felt zero restrictions in his first game action since April 16. Manning pounded the strike zone, allowed just one hit and struck out four before coming out after 37 pitches.
Manning mixed up his pitches later in the outing but threw mostly fastballs, topping out at 95 mph.
“It just felt a lot better,” Manning said in the Mud Hens’ clubhouse about an hour after his day was done, before making the commute back home to Detroit.
“I didn’t have to really think about my shoulder for the first time pitching in a few weeks. It felt really good.”
The next step, Manning said, will be to see how he feels Monday and discuss further plans with the Tigers’ training staff. He is expected to make at least three starts with Toledo, though he wasn’t sure about that following Sunday’s game. He knows he’ll make at least one more, perhaps pushing it to four or five innings.
The Tigers are playing it very safe with their young pitching prospects, Manning, a first-round pick in 2016, and his good friend, Casey Mize, the No. 1 overall pick in 2018 who is out with a right elbow sprain. Tyler Alexander is also on the IL with a left elbow sprain.
Manning and Mize were rehabbing together in Lakeland, Florida, before Manning returned for Sunday’s start. They’ve been leaning on each other through the injury process, which has been especially frustrating, given Detroit’s struggles to start the season.
“It’s at least good to go through it with somebody,” Manning said. “I just want to be with them (the Tigers) through the wins and the losses and just do what I can to turn it around for them.
“They’re very, very close. It’s gonna start clicking. It’s gonna start coming for them very quickly.”
Manning, 24, in his second season in the major leagues, saw the leadoff man for the Worcester Red Sox reach on an error to start Sunday’s game, but he easily worked around it.
He got the next batter, Jonathan Araúz, to strike out on a 95-mph fastball, before getting a flyball to shallow center. Manning ended the inning with a beautiful biting breaking ball, striking out Triston Casas. He called that curve “one of the better ones I’ve thrown … I’ve gotta start throwing that more.”
Manning then didn’t see the mound for the next 20 minutes.
They may have offensive issues at Detroit, but not at Toledo. After the first two Toledo batters made outs, Daz Cameron drilled a double to left-center field, igniting a five-run, two-out rally. Manning didn’t mind it, and actually took credit for it — he bought the team Krispy Kremes on Sunday morning.
“I didn’t eat any of them,” Manning wanted to clarify.
Despite the long rest, Manning settled right back into things in the second inning, getting the first two batters on two pitches each, on a lineout to right and a popup to third (where John Valente made a dandy catch).
Manning got ahead of Connor Wong 0-2, before Wong lined a base hit to right — the only hit Manning would allow, and he didn’t walk anybody either.
Manning then struck out the next batter swinging, Jaylin Davis on a 94-mph fastball. That drew a huge roar from a nice-sized crowd, as Davis had been designated the game’s opposing player who if he struck out, would trigger free ice cream for a couple random rows.
The next half-inning break was a much shorter one for Manning, who after needing just 11 pitches to get out of the second, needed 12 in the third. He got them 1-2-3, including winning the seven-pitch battle with Ronaldo Hernández, who struck out swinging on an 89-mph four-seam fastball.
Of the 37 pitches, 25 were strikes. His fastball mostly sat 92-93. Only two balls were hit particularly hard. He never went to a three-ball count.
Manning and the Tigers have been calling this injury-list stint somewhat precautionary. It was a shorter spring training, after all, and pitchers have been going down left and right throughout the majors, not just with the Tigers. Manning also is taking an optimistic approach. He might’ve had an innings limit this season; now, after he returns, he’s hopeful he won’t need one the rest of the way, because of this break.
“I’ve been having some good outings,” said Manning, who allowed one hit in six innings in his season debut, then five hits in two innings next time out, before he was pulled with the shoulder issue.
“I’m just trying to build on that. Just gotta get back.”
tpaul@detroitnews.com
Twitter: @tonypaul1984