DETROIT -- Left-hander John Means cruised through most of his start Monday afternoon, at one point retiring 12 consecutive batters. It was the beginning and the end that doomed him and the Orioles during Baltimore’s 5-2 loss to the Tigers at Comerica Park.

The Tigers' first two hitters made great contact, as Jordy Mercer followed Victor Reyes’ triple with a two-run home run to left. Then in the fifth, Reyes’ two-out, two-run double helped spell the end for Means. The O's starter loaded the bases in the sixth and allowed a sacrifice fly before he was replaced by right-hander Branden Kline.

• Box score

“It was 2-0 before you know it,” Orioles manager Brandon Hyde said. “I thought [Means] threw the ball well. I thought he looked good. They ambushed him early, and then he left a change-up up later [on Reyes’ double].”

Though Means yielded five runs on six hits in 5 2/3 frames, marking his worst start in nearly a month, he continued his run of more efficient outings, needing only 76 pitches.

“He’s done a nice job of making pitches early in the count and getting some easy outs,” Hyde said. “I think you saw some more good breaking balls there today, so he’s still developing, but he’s throwing the ball well.”

Means entered play Monday on a string of five starts with at least five innings pitched and no more than two runs earned.

“I stayed in attack mode and made some pitches, but at the same time, they just did damage when they needed to,” he said. “It’s frustrating, but you gotta go back to the drawing board.”

The rookie has diversified his pitch mix lately, and continued that trend Monday, throwing 30 fastballs and 29 change-ups, adding in five sliders and 12 of his “slurves,” a harder curveball with more horizontal breaking action, which averaged 80.1 mph on Monday. He said fastball location was the biggest difference between his dominant middle innings and the times he struggled.

“I think my fastball was my biggest downfall today,” Means said. “I was leaving it over the plate instead of hitting the corners like I usually do with it, and riding it up. My fastball up wasn’t working as well, and they were able to get on top of it.”

On offense, the O’s struggled to solve Tigers left-hander Tyler Alexander, who picked up his first career Major League victory with a six-inning performance during which he allowed just four hits and one run.

“I was impressed with [Alexander's] stuff,” first baseman Trey Mancini said. “He’s got a good cutter, too. I thought he located his pitches really well and did a good job of keeping us off-balance. He threw a lot of fastballs. It says 90-91 [mph] up on the board, but it definitely seems harder up at the plate.”

Though the rest of the lineup struggled against Alexander, Mancini tagged him for his 33rd home run of the season, a Statcast-projected 430-foot blast in the sixth inning that came off the bat at 106.7 mph. The O’s added a run in the seventh on center fielder Austin Hays’ seventh-inning bloop single that plated second baseman Jonathan Villar, who led off the inning with a triple to right-center field.

Mancini had a chance to play hero in the top of the ninth when he came to the plate with the bases loaded and two outs, but Tigers reliever Joe Jiménez caught the slugger on a swinging third strike in the dirt to end the game. The O’s had mounted a two-out rally on three consecutive singles.

“Three really good at-bats and then had the right guy up, but Jiménez put some good sliders to him,” Hyde said.

Mancini, who hit .388 during the series with three home runs, was frustrated with his approach on the final at-bat.

“I felt pretty good about my series overall, and [that’s] the one at-bat where I come out of myself,” Mancini said. “I don’t know how I chased those two pitches there in that situation. Just trying to do too much, clearly. I’m definitely not happy about it.”

Odds and ends

• Designated hitter Renato Núñez left the game after being hit by a pitch on the left elbow in the eighth inning, but Hyde said X-rays were negative and he expects Nuñez to be fine.

• Infielder Mark Trumbo was a late lineup scratch with a left trapezius strain.

• Earlier Monday, the Orioles claimed right-handed pitcher Eric Hanhold off waivers from the Mets and designated left-hander Ty Blach for assignment. Hanhold has not pitched in the majors this season, but has 39 relief appearances for Triple-A Syracuse, recording a 4.62 ERA and 1.64 WHIP.

Blach went 1-3 with an 11.32 ERA and 2.18 WHIP in five starts for the O’s after being claimed off waivers from the Giants on Aug. 3.