Matthew Boyd doesn’t care about his 1-2 record this season. “As long as we win as a team, that’s all I care about,” Boyd said. “As long as our win column as the Tigers keeps going up, that’s what matters.”
Boyd has been magnificent in his past few starts, save for a rough outing in Pittsburgh where he battled a tough Pirate team, and the flu. Back in the friendly confines of Comerica Park and healthy, he threw 6 innings of one-run ball to secure Detroit’s 2-1 win over Tampa Bay. He struck out seven and walked just one to drop his ERA to 2.48; lower than his ERA during his strong run to end last year’s campaign.
The Tigers would help get Boyd out of trouble in the third inning of a scoreless game. Speedster Mallex Smith singled to open the frame, and stole second during the following at-bat. Johnny Field would hit a ball to Jeimer Candelario, who would beat the throw, but keep Smith at second. The next Ray, Adeiny Hechavarria would ground into a fielder’s choice, putting runners at first and third with just one out. Boyd would get C.J. Cron to pop out to short, and Matt Duffy to strike out to dance out of trouble and keep the game tied at zero.
Boyd would be rewarded in the bottom of the third with a Nicholas Castellanos double scoring Jeimer Candelario to take a 1-0 lead, which would hold until the 5th when back to back singles and a Matt Duffy ground out would generate the only Tampa Bay run. Detroit would retake the lead in the bottom half of the inning courtesy of a Leonys Martin single scoring James McCann. Boyd would toss a scoreless sixth before handing the ball off to Alex Wilson, and Joe Jimenez in the seventh and eighth; then Shane Greene would pitch a perfect ninth inning to record his 5th save of the season.
The Tigers (12-16) sit in second place, three games behind the Indians in the AL Central. They are five games behind Seattle and the Yankees in the Wild Card race. Detroit wraps their series with Tampa Bay today at Comerica Park at 1:10pm. The pitching matchup is scheduled to feature Michael Fulmer (1-2, 2.76 ERA) for Detroit against the Rays’ Blake Snell (4-1, 2.25 ERA)
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