Tigers lefty Boyd outpitches Bailey
Reds right-hander delivers another strong performance.
Once Matthew DETROIT —
Boyd escaped a couple early jams, the Detroit left-hander found a groove.
“Early in the game, he had a couple guys on and it got real slow,” Tigers manager Ron Gardenhire said. “He picked up the pace.”
Boyd allowed four hits in eight scoreless innings, and Niko Goodrum homered in the fourth to lift the Tigers over the Cincinnati Reds 2-1 on Tuesday night. Gardenhire may have felt the game slowed down early, but the pace was hardly an issue overall. The game was over in 2 hours, 18 minutes.
Homer Bailey (1-8) retired his first 11 batters before Goodrum went deep for his 10th home run of the year. The Tigers never gave up the lead. Boyd (6-9) struck out seven and walked one before being lifted after 105 pitches. Shane Greene allowed a run in the ninth but held on for his 22nd save in 25 chances.
Bailey allowed only a hit and a walk through the first seven innings, but the Tigers added two more hits in the eighth, including an RBI double by Mike Gerber, his first major league hit and RBI. Bailey did end up with his seventh career complete game and first since 2014.
The Reds nearly took the lead in the fourth when Phillip Ervin and Joey Votto hit consecutive one-out doubles, but it appeared Votto’s drive might be caught, so Ervin only made it from second to third, and Cincinnati wasn’t able to get him home.
“Phil knows on that ball there’s one out. He’s got to get off the base far enough,” Reds manager Jim Riggleman said. “If there’s nobody out, you’re tagging. He just made a mistake.”
In the second, Eugenio Suarez was thrown out at the plate by Detroit center fielder JaCoby Jones. Suarez hit a sacrifice fly in the ninth.
Bailey was in his second start back from a knee injury. “Mechanically I just feel so much better. I’m very confident in what I am doing,” he said.