Lee’s Summit West High School grad makes MLB history by closing out Tigers’ no-hitter
Whenever the Detroit Tigers show highlights of the nine no-hitters that have been thrown in franchise history, fans will see a player who grew up in Lee’s Summit.
That’s because Alex Lange got the final three outs Saturday in the Tigers’ 2-0 win over the Toronto Blue Jays in Detroit. He finished a combined no-hitter with starter Matt Manning and Jason Foley.
It was Lange’s 13th save of the season, and none has been bigger for the Tigers.
“I think we were all aware of it,” Lange told MLB.com. “Just make the moment as small as possible.”
Lange, who graduated from Lee’s Summit West High School, struck out Bo Bichette to open the ninth, then got Brandon Belt to fly out to center field.
Vladimir Guerrero Jr. grounded out to third, completing the combined no-hitter.
Catcher Eric Haase hugged Lange after the 27th and final out, and other teammates soon joined the celebration after a long afternoon.
There had been a rain delay of 1 hour, 22 minutes, but that didn’t dampen Lange’s mood after he made MLB history.
“Holy (cow)! How about that, Detroit?” Lange said to the crowd during an on-field interview. “Thank you for sticking it out through the rain ... let’s go Tigers!”
