Tigers lose no-hit bid vs. White Sox in ninth

Daniel Norris’ Tuesday outing didn’t last long, but he was dominant. (USATSI)

On Tuesday night against the White Sox, Tigers right-hander Daniel Norris was perfect through five innings when he was lifted because of pitch count concerns (box score). From that point, though, four Tiger relievers — Buck Farmer, Ian Krol, Drew VerHagen, and Neftali Feliz — held the White Sox hitless until one out in the ninth, when Tyler Saladino tripled. Soon thereafter Saladino scored the tying run. The bid for a combined perfect game ended in the seventh when Krol struck Adam Eaton with a pitch.

The collective Detroit effort would have been just the 12th combined no-hitter in MLB history and first since Cole Hamels and three Phillies relievers pulled it off on Sept. 1 of last year.

As for the early removal, Norris was at 63 pitches when he was replaced by Farmer to start the sixth. Norris was on a reported pitch-count limit of 65 in his second start since returning from the DL because of an oblique injury.

In the course of retiring all 15 batters he faced on Tuesday, Norris struck out four and spotted 41 of those 63 pitches for strikes. In doing so, he lowered his ERA from 4.26 to 3.88 after 11 starts.

The Tigers acquired Norris, age 22, on July 30 as part of the blockbuster that sent David Price to Toronto. Norris, a former second-round pick, was regarded by most evaluators as a top-20 overall prospect headed into the 2015 season. Needless to say, he’s a valuable part of the Tigers’ future, which explains their cautious approach on Tuesday night.

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