NEW YORK — Colt Keith hit an RBI double in the 11th inning Thursday afternoon, sparking the Detroit Tigers to a 6-3 comeback win that extended their best start since 2016 and sent the New York Mets to their worst start since 2005.
Gio Urshela added a two-out, two-run single for the Tigers, who will seek to match the 2016 team’s 6-0 start in the second game of Thursday’s doubleheader. The twinbill was necessitated by rainouts Tuesday and Wednesday night.
The Mets’ Jose Buttó is scheduled to start the second game against fellow right-hander Matt Manning. Both pitchers were recalled earlier Thursday to serve as their team’s 27th man for the doubleheader.
The Mets haven’t opened 0-6 since 1963 — their second season.
Shelby Miller (2-0) tossed two scoreless innings. Michael Tonkin (0-2) took the loss for the second straight game for the Mets, who fell 5-0 in 10 innings Monday night.
The Mets took a 3-0 lead via Francisco Alvarez’s two-RBI double in the third and Brett Baty’s run-scoring single in the fifth. New York was 2-for-28 with two walks with runners on base in between Tyrone Taylor’s RBI single on Sunday and Alvarez’s double.
Andy Ibañez lofted a pinch-hit sacrifice fly in the sixth inning for the Tigers before Urshela scored on a wild pitch in the seventh and Riley Greene homered in the eighth.
Adrian Houser, making his Mets debut after he was acquired from the Milwaukee Brewers on Dec. 20, allowed one run in five-plus innings.
Casey Mize, appearing in a professional game for the first time since April 14, 2022, gave up three runs in 4 1/3 innings. Mize had Tommy John surgery and back surgery later in 2022.
COLD AS DECEMBER
The first-pitch temperature was 43 degrees — the coldest at Citi Field since April 17, 2018. The crowd roared when the sun poked out from behind the clouds during Starling Marte’s at-bat in the bottom of the fifth.
EARLY TWINBILL
The doubleheader was the earliest, by date, in Mets history and the second-earliest for the Tigers, who played a twinbill against the Pittsburgh Pirates on April 1, 2018.
“We knew, probably, when the schedule came out we couldn’t get through Chicago and New York without some sort of interruption,” said Tigers manager A.J. Hinch, whose team began the season with three games against the White Sox. “So it doesn’t surprise a lot of people.”
TRAINER’S ROOM
Mets: DH J.D. Martinez, who is getting into baseball shape in Florida after signing with New York on March 23, is expected to report to a minor league affiliate as early as Friday. Manager Carlos Mendoza said he didn’t expect Mendoza to join the Mets during this weekend’s series against the Cincinnati Reds.
UP NEXT
Tigers: Finally head to Detroit for the home opener Friday afternoon, when LHP Tarik Skubal (1-0, 0.00 ERA) is scheduled to start against the Oakland Athletics and LHP JP Sears (0-1, 12.27 ERA). Skubal will be pitching on eight days rest.
Mets: Begin their first road trip Friday. LHP Jose Quintana (0-1, 3.86 ERA) opens a three-game series against the Reds, who will counter with RHP Hunter Greene (0-0, 3.86 ERA).
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