Casey Mize earned his first pitching win for the Detroit Tigers since Aug. 24, 2021, on Sunday in a 6-1 victory over the Minnesota Twins.

The former Auburn standout worked six shutout innings as Detroit’s starter on Sunday.

Since his previous pitching win, Mize had made 11 starts for the Tigers and undergone Tommy John and back surgeries. He didn’t pitch at all last season.

The Tigers have won his four starts this season as Mize has posted a 2.95 earned-run average in 21.1 innings. But Mize had not been involved in the decision until Sunday.

“It feels good,” Mize said of the pitching win. “It’s been a long time. But the bigger thing is the series win and the team win, so I think we’re all happy about that.”

The Twins left seven runners on base against Mize. In the bottom of the first at Target Field, Minnesota had the bases loaded with one out. In the fourth, Mize got the final out with runners on first and third.

“It was a battle,” Mize said, “but if I leave the game and there’s a zero in the run column, it’s hard not to be happy with that, so happy to compete and keep us with a chance to win and that’s what we did, so it was a good series for us.”

In his six-inning outing, Mize struck out four and yielded five hits and three walks.

“My stuff wasn’t great,” Mize said. “But, like I said, compete was probably the biggest word for the day. I was just trying to get outs with what I had. …

“Couldn’t get ahead in counts. Didn’t land as many sliders as I would have liked early on. The split showed up late, which was really good. And just sailed some curveballs and whatnot. The offspeed stuff just wasn’t able to land. I think maybe mechanically just a touch off. I could probably tell that a little bit early on.”

Sunday’s game marked Mize’s first scoreless outing of at least six innings since his first Major League win. On April 12, 2021, Mize worked seven shutout innings in the Tigers’ 6-2 victory over the Houston Astros.

The Tigers chose Mize from Auburn with the No. 1 pick in the 2018 draft. The right-hander made his big-league debut on Aug. 19, 2020. But between starts on April 14, 2022, and April 4, 2024, Mize did not pitch for the Tigers.

In June 2022, Mize had Tommy John surgery and, shortly after that, back surgery.

In Tommy John surgery – or ulnar collateral ligament reconstruction – a tendon from elsewhere in the injured player’s body or from a donor is attached to the inner side of the elbow in place of the damaged ligament. The surgery is named after the first pitcher to undergo the procedure in 1974 and resume his career.

But the back surgery has been just as important to Mize.

“The issue that I had was sciatic nerve pain down my left foot, so I couldn’t straighten that leg,” Mize said, “so when I landed, I couldn’t straighten it, or else it would shoot nerve pain up my leg. … So now, pain-free, it took me a while for my brain to recognize that and my body to follow suit. Now I’m able to stick the leg in the ground and brace really hard, and that energy transfer is happening a lot better.”

Mize had a 19-2 pitching record at Springville High School before going 20-13 in three seasons at Auburn, where he struck out 324 in 267.1 innings.

Mize made 26 minor-league starts, with an 8-3 record and 2.71 earned-run average, before he made his MLB debut on Aug. 19, 2020. His minor-league work included a no-hitter for the Erie SeaWolves in his Double-A debut on April 29, 2019.

Mize made seven starts with the Tigers during the coronavirus pandemic-affected 2020 season. In 2021, Mize posted a 7-9 record with a 3.71 earned-run average in 30 starts for Detroit, but he made it through only 10 innings in 2022 before being shut down.

Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter at @AMarkG1.