Another Boyd outing and another chance to be bested by the third time through the rotation in this miserable Tigers loss. But hey, at least it looked like a nice day to be at the park.
Matthew Boyd started well enough with a 1-2-3 top of the first, but the Tigers were going to come to regret not taking advantage of a Kerry Carpenter single in the bottom of the inning, because a little run support early might have made this game slightly less terrible.
Onto the second and the Boyd of inning one was erased. A two-out Pavin Smith single put a man on board, then Nick Ahmed homered to bring in two runs and put the DBacks on the board nice and early. Gabriel Moreno singled and Jake McCarthy drew a walk, but no additional runs scored. Still, a really bad inning for a pitcher whose bread and butter is keeping the score low in the first trip through the order. Bottom of the second saw a Miguel Cabrera double, fitting on his bobblehead day, and putting him one extra-base hit behind Ty Cobb on the all-time list.
Boyd settled down in the third going 1-2-3 again, but the Tigers couldn’t capitalize on a Jake Marisnick single to lead off the home half of the inning. The fourth inning went 1-2-3 for both sides.
Ah, yes, the third time some batter started to face Matthew Boyd and like clockwork Hinch left him in just a little too long. Moreno doubled, then Ketel Marte walked. Lourdes Gurriel Jr then homered with two outs, bringing in three runs and putting the Diamondbacks up 5-0. The final line for Boyd for the day was 5.0 IP, 6 H, 5 R, 5 ER, 2 BB, 5 K, 2 HR on 88 pitches. The Tigers couldn’t muster a baserunner in the bottom of the inning.
Mason Englert came out in relief for the sixth and shut the DBacks down in order. Things got kind of exciting on the Tigers’ side of the inning. Kerry Carpenter got a two-out double, then Spencer Torkelson drew a walk. Nick Maton followed with a walk of his own, leading to a pitching change, and unfortunately the inning ended with the bases loaded and no runs scored. It really felt like a lost opportunity, more than the usual TTBDNS.
Tyler Alexander allowed a single to McCarthy, but he was erased by a Marte double play. The Tigers went 1-2-3 in the bottom of the inning. Alexander continued a solid relief effort in the top of the eighth, setting the DBacks down in order. In the bottom of the eighth Carpenter got a single, but no runs scored.
Jose Cisnero was the man on the mound for the ninth inning, and he effortlessly moved through the Arizona batters. Bottom of the ninth and the Tigers were hungry for a comeback. In theory. With two outs it was none other than Miguel Cabrera with a double down the left-field foul line. He tied Cobb for 15th of all-time extra-base hits. Someone wasted absolutely no time updating that Wikipedia list, btw. Jake Rogers walked to put two aboard. The game ended with a foul pop-up near the visitor dugout.
Final: Diamondbacks 5, Tigers 0