Athletics 4, Tigers 1: Matthew Boyd gets no help. Again.

Matthew Boyd didn’t have his strongest outing, allowing four runs in 6 ¹⁄₃ innings, but it didn’t matter as the Detroit Tigers offense puttered to another poor performance in a 4-1 loss to the Oakland Athletics on Saturday afternoon.

Boyd’s final line wasn’t the best, but he struck out eight A’s hitters without allowing a walk. It was his fifth start of the year with at least eight strikeouts, and his first since May 3. The bullpen chipped in, holding the A’s scoreless over the final 2 ²⁄₃ frames of the contest. Joe Jimenez had a strong performance with a pair of strikeouts in his lone inning of work.

The A’s got on the board early, as catcher Nick Hundley hit a Boyd slider over the right field fence, just beyond the outstretched glove of Nicholas Castellanos. The homer gave the A’s a 2-0 lead, which would eventually be enough against Detroit’s punchless attack. They pulled one run back when Ronny Rodriguez scored on a wild pitch in the bottom of the fourth, but Jurickson Profar extended Oakland’s lead with an RBI double in the top half of the fifth. Chad Pinder padded the margin with a solo homer off of Boyd in the seventh, his fifth of the year.

The Good

As mentioned, Matthew Boyd had a solid outing. Four runs in 6 ¹⁄₃ innings already feels a bit disappointing for Boyd after his blazing start to the year, but it should have been plenty enough on most afternoons, for most teams. The bullpen did well to keep the Tigers in striking distance, with just one hit allowed in their 2 ²⁄₃ frames.

The Meh

Ronny Rodriguez all but manufactured Detroit’s only run on his own, which was nice, but he also struck out twice and stranded three runners in scoring position.

The Bad and Ugly

Detroit’s other eight hitters combined for just four hits and two walks. JaCoby Jones was the only other Tiger to reach third base on the afternoon. Christin Stewart went 0-for-4, and grounded into a game-ending double play in the ninth.