No-no! Detroit Tigers top prospect Casey Mize throws brilliant no-hitter in Double-A debut

Casey Mize, the Detroit Tigers top prospect, threw a no-hitter in his debut at Double-A Erie on Monday night.

When he finished it off, with a fly ball to short center, he celebrated with his new teammates, jumping up and down around the mound.

It was a brilliant performance. If he had any nerves, he didn't show it.

Simply put, he dominated, just as he dominated at Single-A Lakeland.

Mize hit the first batter he faced in the game, a pitch that seemed to slip out of his hand and grazed the lead-off batter in the back, but he got out of the early jam by inducing an easy double-play ball.

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After that, he simply rolled, looking comfortable and confident, efficient and at ease, inducing soft contact and staying out of trouble, while pitching in front of members of the Tigers' front office, including general manager Al Avila in a 1-0 victory over the Altoona Curve.

Mize, who the Tigers selected with the first pick in the 2018 MLB draft, didn't walk his first batter until the seventh inning.

Mize eased through the first two innings, facing the minimum number of batters, striking out two. Nobody could get a hard hit off of him, and it looked as if he had an instant connection to catcher Jake Rogers, who is known for the advanced way he handles pitchers.

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While the box score didn't show it, Mize benefited from all kinds of fantastic defensive plays.

In the third inning, Derek Hill made a diving catch in shallow center to take away a hit.

Leftfielder Cam Gibson showed off his blazing speed and made a fine play, running back toward the wall to catch a long fly ball to end the fourth inning.

Josh Lester went behind third base to snag a ball, and right fielder Jose Azocar made a fine sliding play in right field to take away a hit.

Derek Hill caught a ball over his shoulder jogging easily back toward the wall to end the fifth.

And Isaac Paredes was positioned perfectly to catch a ball in the outfield grass.

Mize pitched just four pitches in the sixth inning, as Isaac Paredes was positioned perfectly to make a play beyond the infield,

In the seventh inning, second baseman Sergio Alcantara went on the other side of the bag to scoop up a grounder and get rid of it quickly.

The performance was a testament to Mize, no doubt, but it was also tribute to the SeaWolves defense.

Mize was promoted to Erie, after dominating at Single-A Lakeland. He allowed just one run while striking out 25 batters in 26 innings in Florida.

"The mindset is what it's always been: to try to perform and try to get better every time I go out there," Mize said last week in a conference call after getting the promotion. "Minor leagues are a thing for a reason. You have to develop here, so that's my plan. There's going to be adjustments at every level. There's going to be some challenges, and so I'm looking forward to facing that head-on, but I definitely want to succeed as well.

"I'm going to go out there and try to win every time I pitch. I know there might be some challenges coming my way, and I just have to be able to handle that. My mindset is just to go out there and continue to try to do what I do, and that's compete and win. That's really about it."

Follow the Detroit Free Press' Jeff Seidel on Twitter @seideljeff.