It’s been a running joke between Casey Mize and his skipper the last two years, whether Mize would be the 26 th and final player on the roster to enter a game.

He was the 26 th last year and AJ Hinch did him one better (or one worse) this year.

“He reminded me that he was the 27 th player to play this year,” Hinch said with a smile. “We squeezed in Justyn-Henry Malloy (called up Monday) before him this year.”

Well, good things are worth waiting for.

Mize, with a rejuvenated arsenal and a much more aggressive mindset on the mound, executed one of the most impressive starts of his career, helping the Tigers beat the Seattle Mariners 4-1 Tuesday night at T-Mobile Park.

“I don’t think it was an overhaul as much as he was just trying to address things that weren’t going well,” Hinch said of Mize’s transformation. “He never felt like he had everything in the same game last year or everything for a stretch of time.”

Last season was Mize’s first after missing two years recovering from back and elbow surgeries. He came back with a much livelier fastball, but he struggled to find consistency with the secondary pitches.

He came to spring this year armed with a firmer and sharper splitter and three different shapes of sliders to accompany that firm mid-90s fastball.

“And he did it under the duress of trying to make this team,” Hinch said. “Two years in a row he’s had to come and prove he deserved to be in this rotation and two years in a row he answered the challenge.”

Mize, working with catcher Jake Rogers, dispersed his new mix expertly and allowed just one hit in 5.2 innings, with six strikeouts. He leaned heavy on sliders and splitters off his four-seamer and sinker, which averaged 94 mph, a tick down from his spring training norms.

But the sequencing of the pitches and the ever-changing mix kept the Mariners’ hitters off balance. Mize got 15 misses on 35 swings, the third most of his career.

He got five misses on seven swings with his splitter.

The only smudge was three walks, the last coming with two outs in the sixth to Julio Rodriguez that ended Mize’s night at 82 pitches.

He left with a 3-0 lead thanks to another fast start by the Tigers’ offense.

They scored two runs in the first inning for the third straight game. Facing All-Star right-hander Logan Gilbert, who menaces right-handed hitters, Hinch started all five of his left-handed hitters and stacked four of them at the top of the order around right-handed swinging Spencer Torkelson.

Three of those lefties created a fast two runs – double by Riley Greene and RBI singles by Kerry Carpenter and Colt Keith.

Torkelson got off one of the rare good right-handed swings against Gilbert, slicing an RBI double into the right-field corner in the third inning.

But that was all the damage Gilbert allowed. He struck out 10 in five innings, six against right-handed hitters.

Greene made it 4-1 with a solo homer in the eighth off right-handed reliever Trent Thornton. Greene has homered in both games in Seattle, both opposite-field rockets to left.

His homer Monday left his bat with an exit velocity of 110.8 mph; 106 mph on Tuesday.

The Mariners scored a run without a hit in the seventh. Reliever Beau Brieske walked Randy Arozarena and wild-pitched him to second. He scored on a line drive sacrifice fly to left by Rowdy Tellez.

Victor Robles singled in the first inning against Mize and that was the only hit the Mariners mustered all night. Will Vest and Tommy Kahnle got the final six outs. It was Kahnle's first save with the Tigers.

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