DETROIT -- Daniel Norris was back in the Tigers’ clubhouse after five innings on Tuesday night, his outing over, when he saw an unexpected face. His manager, Ron Gardenhire, was up there, too, having suffered an allergic reaction that left his face swollen and his skin in hives.

“I asked him, ‘Did I give you the hives watching me pitch?’” Norris said after the 5-2 loss to the Angels. “He said, ‘No.’ And then a couple innings later he came back and said, ‘Probably.’”

Neither Gardenhire’s allergic reaction nor Norris’ outing were that bad, though the former was concerning enough that Gardenhire left the dugout around the third inning to see team doctors. Norris’ outing was actually fairly good and followed the pattern of his previous three outings. If anything, the course of the Tigers’ loss was relatively drama-free, good starting pitching that ended up going unrewarded.

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It’s becoming clear what the Tigers expect from Norris as he continues his first lengthy stretch in the rotation in some time. Tuesday marked the fourth time in as many starts that he has gone five innings. All five hits he allowed were singles; all three runners the Angels put into scoring position scored.

Shohei Ohtani did not beat the Tigers in his season debut on Tuesday. Nor did Mike Trout or Albert Pujols. That in itself was a small victory for Norris, who might have picked up an actual win if not for three consecutive singles that turned into three runs and a flummoxing performance from Angels starter Griffin Canning.

“Daniel did a nice job,” said bench coach Steve Liddle, who managed the final innings. “He had the one inning where he ran into a little bit of trouble, had some traffic and got some pitches elevated, but he came back and shut them down. It's good to see him go out there and throw quality innings.”

Gardenhire saw the first few of them before leaving with what was believed to be an allergic reaction to food or drink.

“It never got to trouble breathing,” Liddle said, “but he started breaking out in hives, and his face was swelling a little bit. So we just thought we need to get him upstairs and get some medical attention. We needed to rush him up there and make sure it didn't get any further. They gave him some medicine, and he's doing fine.”

Norris wasn’t the only one slightly confused by the situation. Miguel Cabrera said he saw Gardenhire leave for the clubhouse and asked hitting coach Lloyd McClendon when he’d been ejected.

“After that, I realized he was sick,” Cabrera said. “Hopefully he feels better.”

Once upon a time, Norris was viewed as the same highly touted prospect as Canning is now. Injuries and inconsistencies have dulled some of that shine, but he just turned 26 years old. And with Michael Fulmer, Matt Moore and Jordan Zimmermann all injured, Norris might never have a better opportunity to establish himself.

On a night when Trout, Ohtani and Pujols were relatively quiet, Kole Calhoun, Zack Cozart, David Fletcher and Andrelton Simmons did the damage. Of the hits off of Norris, only Fletcher’s liner into left field topped 100 mph on exit velocity, according to Statcast. On a night when Canning held the Tigers quiet until a two-run sixth inning for his first Major League victory in his second big league start, that was enough.

“Location could’ve been better,” Norris said, “but to bounce back in the fourth and fifth was a good sign of things ahead.”

The Tigers have been held to three runs or fewer in six of their last nine games. They topped that mark Sunday with a walk-off three-run homer in extra innings. Their offense Tuesday came from a JaCoby Jones double, a Nicholas Castellanos triple and a Cabrera RBI single in a four-batter stretch.

“We faced a kid tonight that was on his game,” Liddle said. “He had a slider that guys had a hard time picking up the rotation. Facing a kid like that for the first time, he did his job and we didn't adjust to him until later on.”

Norris, who began his rotation stint with five scoreless innings on April 21, has given the Tigers a chance in all four of his starts. He left with a 1-0 deficit last week in Philadelphia, and he had a five-run lead in Chicago ahead of a White Sox rally off the Tigers’ bullpen.

The Tigers will take their chances with that, especially considering how much work has gone into simply having him as a reliable starter. With fewer off-days ahead and more work for the bullpen on other days, they’d surely like to stretch Norris out a bit more. But they’d also like more offense. As it is, Norris is picking up outs with secondary pitches, avoiding issues with walks and generally staying out of big innings.

“We wanted him to end on a positive note,” Liddle said. “He went out there and did his job. He gave his team a chance to win.”