ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Matt Garza pitched the first no-hitter in Tampa Bay Rays history and the fifth in the major leagues this season, beating the Detroit Tigers 5-0 Monday night.

Garza faced the minimum 27 batters, allowing only a second-inning walk to Brennan Boesch, for a team that’s often been on the wrong end of pitching gems lately.

The Rays have been held hitless three times since last July, including a pair of perfect games that were thrown against them.

“It was one of those days where everything lined up,” Garza said. “The defense made great plays. I really can’t say enough about them.”

The last time there were at least five no-hitters in a season was 1991, when Hall of Famer Nolan Ryan threw one of seven in the big leagues that year, according to STATS LLC.

Garza, the 2008 AL championship series MVP, rebounded from one of his worst outings of the season. He retired pinch-hitter Ramon Santiago for the final out on an easy fly ball to right fielder Ben Zobrist, who made a terrific running catch in the third to rob Danny Worth of a hit.

Garza’s teammates mobbed him near the mound after a performance that left the New York Mets and San Diego Padres as the only big league teams without a no-hitter. The Rays began play in 1998 — the Padres in 1969 and the Mets in ’62.

The Tigers were no-hit for the first time since Randy Johnson shut them down at Seattle on June 2, 1990.

Garza struck out six en route to the first no-hitter tossed by the Rays. It came in the team’s 2,039th game.