Detroit Tigers' Matt Manning earns first MLB win in 6-2 victory over St. Louis Cardinals

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Detroit Tigers rookie Matt Manning earned every bit of the standing ovation he received from the fans.

Making his Comerica Park debut six days after his MLB debut, Manning guided the Tigers (32-42) into the sixth inning against the St. Louis Cardinals. There's still plenty for him to work on, but the 23-year-old is holding his own in the big leagues.

The Tigers' offense helped Manning to his first big-league win with home runs from Daz Cameron and Jonathan Schoop. Their blasts were crucial to notching a 6-2 victory over the Cardinals in the two-game series' finale.

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Detroit Tigers' Jonathan Schoop, right, celebrates his solo home run with Jeimer Candelario (46) in the fifth inning of a baseball game against the St. Louis Cardinals in Detroit, Wednesday, June 23, 2021.
Detroit Tigers' Jonathan Schoop, right, celebrates his solo home run with Jeimer Candelario (46) in the fifth inning of a baseball game against the St. Louis Cardinals in Detroit, Wednesday, June 23, 2021.

Schoop finished 2-for-4 with one double, one home run and three RBIs. In Tuesday's 8-2 win, the 29-year-old went 2-for-5 with one home run and three RBIs.

Since May 11, Schoop is hitting .350 (55-for-157) with 10 doubles, one triple, 13 home runs, 32 RBIs, 14 walks and 28 strikeouts in his past 39 games. He is vying for his second All-Star Game appearance, after making the 2017 American League squad.

Manning allowed two runs on five hits and two walks. He only had one strikeout but fired 52 of 80 pitches for strikes. Three relievers kept the Cardinals from scoring the rest of the way: Gregory Soto (1⅓ innings), Jose Cisnero (1 inning) and Michael Fulmer (1 inning).

Schoop crushes Cards

The Tigers worked Cardinals starter John Gant for back-to-back walks from Eric Haase and Nomar Mazara to begin the second inning. They were stranded on the bases, as Gant retired the next three batters — Cameron, Willi Castro and Isaac Paredes — without further trouble.

Paredes' groundout ended the inning with runners on second and third. Entering Wednesday, opponents had a .136 batting average (8-for-59) against Gant with runners in scoring position. He also came into the game with an MLB-leading 44 walks.

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A similar situation occurred in the third inning, as Jake Rogers and Akil Baddoo drew consecutive no-out walks. Schoop continued his offensive tear by cranking a double , his 11th of the season, to the right-center field gap to tie the game at 2.

He clobbered his 15th home run — and his 12th long ball since May 27 — in the fifth inning off of Cardinals reliever Ryan Helsley for a 4-2 lead. He tagged the 96 mph fastball 372 feet into the Tigers' bullpen in left field.

Daz-zling HR

Four pitches into the fourth inning, the Tigers took a 3-2 lead and chased Gant. He served up a 1-2 changeup to Cameron, who drove the baseball 407 feet to left field — clearing the outfield wall with ease. The rookie's hit produced a 104.9 mph exit velocity.

It was Cameron's third home run in nine games this season, and second in three games.

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Detroit Tigers' Daz Cameron (41) celebrates his solo home run with Willi Castro against the St. Louis Cardinals in the fourth inning of a baseball game in Detroit, Wednesday, June 23, 2021.
Detroit Tigers' Daz Cameron (41) celebrates his solo home run with Willi Castro against the St. Louis Cardinals in the fourth inning of a baseball game in Detroit, Wednesday, June 23, 2021.

The 24-year-old, called up when Derek Hill went to the injured list earlier this month, continues to impress in his second stint in the majors. He was called up for 17 games last season but looked uncomfortable, especially in the batter's box.

Cameron is the Tigers' No. 8 prospect, according to MLB Pipeline.

His home run convinced Cardinals manager Mike Shildt to remove Gant from the game. He allowed three runs on two hits and four walks, with four strikeouts, in three-plus innings. He threw 34 of 70 pitches for strikes.

In the sixth inning, the Tigers pushed their lead to three runs. A Jake Rogers sacrifice bunt moved two runners into scoring position, and Baddoo slapped a one-out single into right field. Willi Castro scored easily, but Paredes was tagged out by Cardinals catcher Yadier Molina after getting sent home by third base coach Chip Hale.

Detroit Tigers shortstop Isaac Paredes (19) is tagged out at home by St. Louis Cardinals catcher Yadier Molina (4) in the sixth inning at Comerica Park, June 23, 2021.
Detroit Tigers shortstop Isaac Paredes (19) is tagged out at home by St. Louis Cardinals catcher Yadier Molina (4) in the sixth inning at Comerica Park, June 23, 2021.

Paredes later had a sacrifice fly in the eighth inning to put the Tigers ahead by four runs.

Welcome to Comerica Park

In his Comerica Park debut, Manning only managed four swings and misses. He earned three whiffs with his fastball and one whiff with his changeup.

Despite not getting many swings and misses, he tallied 17 called strikes, which came on eight fastballs, five sliders, three changeups and one curveball. Entering Wednesday's start, Manning knew he needed to throw fewer fastballs and land his secondary pitches for strikes early in counts.

Against the Cardinals, he did just that.

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Jun 23, 2021; Detroit, Michigan, USA;  Detroit Tigers manager A.J. Hinch (14) take the ball to relieve starting pitcher Matt Manning (25) in the sixth inning against the St. Louis Cardinals at Comerica Park, June 23, 2021.
Jun 23, 2021; Detroit, Michigan, USA; Detroit Tigers manager A.J. Hinch (14) take the ball to relieve starting pitcher Matt Manning (25) in the sixth inning against the St. Louis Cardinals at Comerica Park, June 23, 2021.

Manning threw 51 fastballs (64% of 80 pitches), 15 sliders, 12 changeups and two curveballs. His fastball fluctuated between the upper 80s and the mid 90s, which wasn't expected. Still, his go-to pitch averaged 92 mph.

Manning was efficient, using 14 pitches in the first inning, 12 in the second, 17 in the third, 16 in the fourth, 10 in the fifth and 11 pitches to get two outs in the sixth. Once he gets more comfortable, expect the Tigers to let him pitch deeper into games.

The first run Manning conceded came in the second inning. Nolan Arenado belted his 1-1 slider to left field, giving the Cardinals a 1-0 lead. It was Arenado's 14th homer of the season. In the third, Tommy Edman singled to score Lars Nootbaar — who doubled to deep right-center field because Cameron was positioned in shallow left-center — for a two-run edge.

Toward the end of his outing, Manning worked around a one-out double in the fourth and a two-out walk in the fifth. In the sixth, Manning gave up a single to Paul Goldschmidt and walked Molina with two outs to put two runners on.

That's when Tigers manager AJ Hinch called on Soto.

Soto then struck out Matt Carpenter with a 98 mph fastball to end the sixth.

Evan Petzold is a sports reporter at the Detroit Free Press. Contact him at epetzold@freepress.com or follow him on Twitter @EvanPetzold. Read more on the Detroit Tigers and sign up for our Tigers newsletter.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Detroit Tigers' Matt Manning earns first MLB win, 6-2, over Cardinals