Sean Manaea had a Mets debut to remember, but once again, the Mets would like to forget the outcome.
The left-hander was excellent in his first start with his new team on Monday night, as he retired the first 12 batters he faced and didn’t allow a hit until the sixth inning.
It all came in another disappointing game at Citi Field, as the Mets lost, 5-0 in 10 innings, to the Tigers to drop to 0-4.
Manaea’s 5 ²/₃ no-hit innings was the longest such outing in a Mets debut.
He acknowledged the no-no was on his mind.
“I’d be lying to you if I said it wasn’t,’’ Manaea said. “I should have been thinking about other stuff, but it’s hard not to.”
Manaea, perfect through four innings, allowed a leadoff walk to Riley Greene for Detroit’s first base runner.
After a one-out walk to Carson Kelly in the sixth, he got Matt Vierling on a slow roller for the second out, with Kelly moving to second on the play, before Andy Ibanez broke up the no-hitter with a single to left.
But Manaea even got an out on that play, as Brandon Nimmo threw out Kelly at the plate to end the inning with the game still scoreless.
That proved to be Manaea’s final batter of the game, as he was removed after 88 pitches. He walked two and struck out eight.
Asked what made him so effective on Monday, Manaea said: “I threw all my pitches for strikes, getting ahead of guys [and] tempo.”
Manaea, signed a two-year, $28 million deal to join the Mets this past offseason, struck out seven batters in the first five innings.
The 32-year-old is coming off a pair of shaky seasons with the Giants and Padres — although he took a no-hitter into the eighth inning of his San Diego debut in 2022.
He provided the Mets with some much-needed solid starting pitching after a poor showing by Luis Severino in the team’s second game of the season, followed by Tylor Megill hitting the injured list with a shoulder strain on Monday.
It wasn’t enough for the Mets to finally get a victory, as they fell to 0-4 for the first time since 2005, thanks to an offense that has been mostly silent on the season.
Even with more support, Manaea was almost certain not to make a run at history.
“I was pretty gassed there towards the end,’’ Manaea said, more upset with the loss than not going for the no-hitter. “I don’t care about that. We didn’t get the win and that’s ultimately the only thing that matters.”
