DETROIT >> Reese Olson heard the applause, but in the moment, well, his mind was elsewhere.

“Yeah, honestly, I was thinking about that walk in the eighth,” he said. “But it was good to have the crowd behind us like that and supporting us like that. It was huge to see that and we appreciate it.”

That particular ovation was all for Olson, though. He put on a master class in strike-zone domination Wednesday, helping the Tigers win their sixth series of the young season, beating the San Diego Padres, 6-0, before a crowd of 21,016 at Comerica Park.

“Oh man,” manager AJ Hinch said when asked about Olson’s efficiency. “That was an incredible performance by Reese. From the get-go they were going to be very aggressive, so he not only had to throw strikes, but also control contact…When they showed an aggressive approach, he didn’t back down and start nibbling or try to be too perfect.

“He challenged them with strikes. It just looked like he was in complete control.”

Olson, spinning the ball with precision, breezed through the Padres’ right-handed-heavy batting order, allowing two hits with seven strikeouts in 7.1 innings.

“It was a good outing and Ding (catcher Dillon Dingler) called a great game,” Olson said. “Just getting back on track, pounding the zone early with first-pitch strikes, trying to put them away early. They were swinging and we were able to make some competitive pitches in and around the zone.”

He threw first-pitch strikes to 22 of the 26 batters he faced and the Padres’ hitters were in getaway-day mode — swinging early and often. Good formula for Olson on this day.

“He was getting quick outs, he was getting to leverage, throwing first-pitch strikes — like everything we lay out as a perfect day for him,” Hinch said.

After three innings, Olson had thrown 26 pitches, 23 strikes. He was at 47 pitches after five innings, 61 pitches after six and he went into the eighth at 71 pitches. He didn’t throw consecutive balls to any hitter until the fifth inning. He didn’t get to a three ball count until the sixth.

He and Dingler got into a groove, expertly mixing sliders and changeups off 95-mph four-seam fastballs and sinkers. He got eight whiffs on 11 swings with the slider, and nine on 16 swings with the changeup.

“The changeup and slider were pretty dialed today, command-wise and shape-wise,” Olson said. “We leaned on that and picked our spots with the sinker to get some early outs. When they were expecting offspeed we sped them up and then we’d go back to the offspeed.

“It’s about making competitive pitches in the zone early in counts. As long as I’m doing that, I feel like we have a pretty good chance of being successful.”

Olson finished eight innings just once in his career, May 14 last season against the Miami Marlins at Comerica Park, and it looked like he might be on track for a complete game. Alas, he only got one out in the eighth, and that was doozy.

Centerfielder Javier Báez ran 116 feet to track and catch Tirso Ornelas’ 407 foot drive. Olson threw up his hands and applauded the catch.

“For a guy who hasn’t played that much outfield in his career, to look that comfortable out there and make a play like that, it’s really impressive,” Olson said. “He’d probably be one of the best defenders in the league no matter where you put him.”

Olson walked Oscar Gonzalez on five pitches and gave up his second single of the day to Jose Iglesias. He was still only at 85 pitches, but he knew his day was over.

“Yeah, 7.1 scoreless innings? I’m pretty happy with it,” he said.

Hinch was asked about pulling Olson afterward.

“I love the fact that there was no reaction,” he said. “Because he knows the guy coming in is a beast. He’s a real dude who comes in and has a job on this team. There’s not a lot of drama with that stuff here. There’s some theater when the pitch count is so low and I get shutouts and complete games and that stuff.

“But it was time for Tommy.”

Tommy Kahnle finished the inning with no damage and Will Vest breezed through the ninth.

Gleyber Torres kickstarted the offense, torching a 92-mph off lefty Kyle Hart in the first inning. The ball left his bat at 108 mph and flew 402 feet into the seats in left field. It was an important omen.

The Padres were going to attack the Tigers’ with lefties on this day. Besides Hart, Hinch knew there were three lefties waiting in the bullpen and two of them, Adrian Morejon and Yuki Matsui pitched in the game, keeping three left-handed hitters on the Tigers’ bench — Kerry Carpenter, Colt Keith and Jace Jung.

“The way their pen shaped up and the way they used them, our right-handed hitters were going to have to do something today,” Hinch said.

Justyn-Henry Malloy accepted the challenge. He was in a 2 for 20 skid and had two ugly at-bats against Hart, but he got a third crack at him in the fifth inning and destroyed a hanging slider (111.7 mph off his bat) for his first homer.

“We need that,” Malloy said. “I wanted to back (Hart) up a little bit. The first two at-bats I didn’t like. He was getting me out front with offspeed pitches. I just shifted my sights a little bit and got a really good pitch to hit.”

Hinch and Carpenter shared a laugh with Malloy when he came back into the dugout.

“Listen, Carp’s presence on the bench created a pressure point,” Hinch said. “It’s not just a pressure point when he’s up. It’s also when he’s on the bench and he’s a threat to come off.”

Carpenter’s presence was a factor in Padres manager Mike Shildt keeping Hart in the game, even though right-handed reliever Alek Jacob was warming.

“I told J-Hen he owed Carp a dinner,” Hinch said, laughing.

Malloy got a swing off against Morejon in the seventh and ripped a double down the line in right, scoring Trey Sweeney from first. Riley Greene followed with an RBI single, his second hit. Dingler capped off his catcher daily-double — catch a win, hit a homer — with a two run blast off Matsui in the eighth.

Five of the six runs were driven in by right-handed hitters.

The Tigers (15-10) finally will get an off day Thursday after playing 13 straight days. They went 8-5 in that stretch. They are off to their best start in 10 years and they are doing it with 12 players on the injured list, including key contributors like Parker Meadows, Matt Vierling, Jake Rogers, Wenceel Perez, Beau Brieske and John Brebbia.

“We’re going in to the off day with a win and a series win against a good team,” Hinch said. “We feel really good right now no matter what the lineup is or what the order is or who we put out there. We feel like we should win every series, whether it’s winning the first two games and going for the sweep or splitting the first two and having to win the finale.

“We have the right mentality. Not just based on the previous series, but based on a number of things over the last couple of years.”