CLEVELAND -- Matt Manning sat in the Tigers' dugout at Progressive Field well after his outing was over in Monday’s eventual 13-5 Tigers loss. One teammate after another walked over with a pat on the shoulder. A couple of them sat down with him to offer words of encouragement. All the while, he soaked in what quickly became a rough learning experience.

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“I was just supporting [reliever Miguel] Del Pozo when he was out there and supporting the guys,” Manning said.

On a night when Miguel Cabrera enjoyed a historic moment with his 493rd home run, tying Lou Gehrig and Fred McGriff for 28th on the MLB all-time list, Manning’s third big league start quickly became a teachable moment. Command is vital, not just for hitting the strike zone, but hitting the right locations in it. So, too, are pitching patterns.

“He was a little predictable early, and he was throwing a lot of fastballs,” manager A.J. Hinch said.

From a competitive standpoint, Manning’s first Major League loss was pretty well set after Austin Hedges’ two-run homer in the second inning built a 5-1 deficit. Hinch stuck with the 23-year-old and let him try to work through his issues, while also saving some innings from the bullpen before José Ureña starts Tuesday trying to shake his own struggles.

For a while, it worked. Manning rebounded from five hits his first turn through Cleveland’s order to allow just a single and a hit batter his second time through. His third time against the top of the Indians’ lineup, however, turned a rough outing into an ugly one.

Cesar Hernandez doubled home Ernie Clement with a line drive off the wall in the right-field corner. Amed Rosario continued the inning with an infield single. No sooner had Tigers pitching coach Chris Fetter returned to the dugout from his mound visit than José Ramírez provided the exclamation point with a drive down the right-field line off a first-pitch fastball for a three-run homer and a 9-2 Cleveland lead.

“We were trying to go up,” Manning said, “and I left it over.”

Manning became the eighth Detroit pitcher in the last 20 years to yield nine earned runs in less than four innings, a list that includes Jordan Zimmermann, Aníbal Sánchez, Rick Porcello and Jeremy Bonderman. Manning is the first rookie to do so since Adam Bernero gave up nine runs over 2 2/3 innings to the Red Sox on June 5, 2002, in his seventh Major League start.

It’s not that other Tigers rookies haven’t struggled since then. Justin Verlander gave up eight runs over 4 2/3 innings in Cleveland on Aug. 26, 2006 -- and seven runs over 2 2/3 innings on April 13 against the White Sox. Tarik Skubal gave up six runs in two-plus innings in St. Louis last September. Few stayed in as long and took as much damage as Manning.

For Manning, it was a reminder of the struggles that began his season at Triple-A Toledo, including eight home runs over his first three outings and 13 runs in seven innings of a two-start stretch before a quality start set up his promotion to the big leagues. He gave up just two balls Monday with exit velocities over 100 mph, according to Statcast, and one was a groundout. But he also had only one ball in play with an exit velocity under 89 mph.

“They were pretty comfortable up there,” said catcher Jake Rogers. “I didn’t think we pitched in enough. When we tried to go in, he kind of missed, leaked out over [the plate] a little bit.”

Manning has six strikeouts over 14 1/3 innings in three starts. Moreover, he has 13 swings and misses, all but three of them off his fastball. He has thrived more on called strikes, 14 of them Monday. But for someone who averaged 11 strikeouts per nine innings over his Minor League career, he’ll need to get closer to that form eventually.

With Matthew Boyd out until after the All-Star break and Spencer Turnbull in the early stages of a throwing program, Manning is getting a chance to learn on the job. He’s confident enough to take his lumps and keep attacking. He’ll get an opportunity to apply the lessons this weekend against the White Sox.

“We’ll encourage him to make better pitches,” Hinch said. “I think the lessons are out on the field. I think the bad taste is going to be left in his mouth. It’s going to be key for him to go back and get to work and execute from the beginning of the game when he gets the ball again.”