Detroit Tigers right-hander Casey Mize didn't quite get off to a strong start, as he allowed four runs in the first inning. He needed 101 pitches to record 13 outs against the Philadelphia Phillies, completing 4⅓ innings.

But Mize, who set a career high with 10 strikeouts, took a step forward in overall effectiveness despite an 8-1 loss to the Phillies — the best team in the National League — in Monday's opener of a three-game series at Comerica Park.

The Tigers (36-42) didn't win, but Mize proved he is capable of missing bats.

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The 2018 No. 1 overall draft pick posted a 35.8% whiff rate — the second-highest of his 54-start career, over parts of four seasons — by generating 19 whiffs on 53 swings with six four-seam fastballs, six sliders, five splitters and two sinkers.

Mize entered Monday's start with a 19.2% whiff rate in his first 14 starts, returning from elbow and back surgeries. In his 15th start, Mize showcased the best versions of his slider and splitter, all while maintaining a firm fastball.

But the 27-year-old surrendered four runs (three earned) on nine hits and zero walks early.

The first inning began with a fielding error by shortstop Zach McKinstry, which allowed Kyle Schwarber to reach safely on a ground ball. The next four batters collected hits — Trea Turner (double), Bryce Harper (two-run double), Alec Bohm (two-run home run), Nick Castellanos (single) — to put the Phillies ahead, 4-0.

Harper smoked a fastball on the bottom rail of the strike zone into right-center field for his double; Bohm crushed a hanging slider to left-center field for his home run.

Mize bounced back by retiring the next three batters in the first inning. He then worked around a leadoff single in the second, a two-out single in the third and a leadoff single in the fourth. He allowed back-to-back hits — Harper's double and Bohm's single — in the fifth before a strikeout competed his 15th start.

Mize's 10 strikeouts along the way: Brandon Marsh (swinging strike, fastball) and David Dahl (swinging strike, splitter) in the first inning, Schwarber (swinging strike, splitter) and Harper (swinging strike, fastball) in the second, Bohm (swinging strike, fastball), Castellanos (swinging strike, slider) and Marsh (foul tip, slider) in the third, Garrett Stubbs (called strike, fastball) and Schwarber (swinging, slider) in the fourth and Castellanos (called strike, slider) in the fifth inning.

Left-handed reliever Tyler Holton replaced Mize with one out and runners on the corners. There were two runners in scoring position with two outs when he struck out Marsh, a left-handed hitter, with a down-and-away slider to keep additional runs off Mize's tab in the fifth.

In the sixth, the Phillies grabbed a 7-1 lead with Harper's three-run home run off Holton's two-strike changeup with two outs. The homer took place after a pair of walks.

The first of two walks from Holton snapped a streak of 26 innings without a walk from Tigers pitchers, dating back to Friday's sixth inning against the Chicago White Sox.

The Phillies then took an 8-1 lead when Bohm, who has 28 doubles, hit an RBI two-bagger off right-handed reliever Mason Englert with two outs in the eighth.

A triple play

The Phillies showed some glove work, too, turning MLB's first 1-3-5 triple play since July 11, 1929.

It happened in the third inning, when Matt Vierling hit a weak broken-bat lineout to Phillies right-hander Aaron Nola. The runners on the corners seemingly thought the ball bounced before landing in Nola's glove and took off running accordingly.

McKinstry ran through home plate; Carson Kelly moved toward second base. Both runners were thrown out to complete the inning-ending play, with easy lobs from Nola on the mound to Harper at first to Bohm at third base.

It was the first triple play turned against the Tigers since Aug. 3, 2017, as well as the first triple play in MLB in 2024.

The last 1-3-5 triple play, which occurred in 1929, happened in a game between the Tigers and Boston Red Sox at Navin Field — which would later be called Tiger Stadium at the corner of Michigan and Trumbull — in Detroit.

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Just one run

For the Phillies, Nola allowed one run on six hits and zero walks with six strikeouts across seven innings.

He threw 90 pitches.

The Tigers scored their lone run in the fifth inning with back-to-back two-out hits from McKinstry and Kelly.

McKinstry hit Nola's middle-down curveball for a double and scored from second base when Kelly hit Nola's middle-middle sinker into center. The lone run cut the Tigers' deficit to 4-1, but the Phillies answered with three runs in the next inning.

The Tigers finished with seven hits and zero walks off three pitchers.

Contact Evan Petzold at epetzold@freepress.com or follow him @EvanPetzold.

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This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Detroit Tigers fall to Philadelphia Phillies, 8-1, despite whiffs