Detroit – It was abundantly clear right from the start that Troy Melton brought his top-shelf stuff against the Astros Thursday night at Comerica Park.
The velocity on all his pitches was up, especially on his four-seam fastball, which he was ripping at 97, 98 and 99 in the first inning. His cutter, too, was up almost 3 mph from its norm.
He struck out Jeremy Pena and Yordan Alvarez in the first inning. Then he punched out Christian Walker and Jose Altuve in the second.
He was rolling.
He set down the first 16 hitters. But with one out in the sixth, the fun stopped.
Melton left a slider up over the plate and Astros’ centerfielder Taylor Trammell hooked it just inside the foul pole in right field for his second home run this season.
The Tigers weren’t having much fun against Houston right-hander Tatsuya Imai, either. Riley Greene’s two-out single in the fourth was the only hit against him through five innings.
@cmccosky
This article originally appeared on The Detroit News: Troy Melton, Tigers’ starter, loses no-hit bid in the sixth inning
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