Tigers 2, Reds 1: Matthew Boyd, Mike Gerber shine in win

The Detroit Tigers only managed three hits against the Cincinnati Reds on Tuesday, but that was all Matthew Boyd needed as the Tigers won the first of a two-game home series in a 2-1 victory.

The story of the night was, without a doubt, Boyd’s brilliant pitching. Despite finding himself in an unexpected pitching duel with Reds righthander Homer Bailey — who finished with an eight-inning complete game while allowing only three hits and two earned runs — Boyd did not allow a single Red to score over eight innings and 105 pitches of work.

In the top of the fourth inning, Boyd faced his only true jam of the game, as he allowed back-to-back doubles to Phillip Ervin and Joey Votto. Thankfully, Ervin did not score on the Votto double. Boyd would then strike out Eugenio Suarez and walk Scooter Gennett before getting Tucker Barnhart to ground out, ending the threat. Niko Goodrum rewarded Boyd with a solo home run in the bottom of the fourth, and Boyd cruised from there, allowing one last single before retiring the last 12 batters he faced. When all was said and done, Boyd had gone eight shutout innings, allowing only four hits and one walk with seven strikeouts.

This was a relatively quiet game until the later innings. In the bottom of the eighth inning, with Jose Iglesias on first base and two men out, Mike Gerber doubled for his first major league career hit. Iglesias scored what proved to be the game-winning run, as the double made it 2-0 Tigers. It gave Shane Greene a crucial two-run lead for his ninth-inning save. Greene allowed a triple to Phillip Ervin to start the inning before getting Votto to line out. Suarez hit a sacrifice fly to Nicholas Castellanos, however, cutting the lead to one. Greene struck out Scooter Gennett to end the game in the next at-bat, but without Mike Gerber, the team would have headed to extra innings.

Tweet of the Game