On Wednesday, Tigers starter Matt Boyd (4-2, 3.93 ERA) had a chance to turn in an eighth straight start of three ER or fewer against the Twins, whom the last time he faced back on July 18 when he tossed six scoreless. He was opposing young Twins pitcher Tyler Duffey (8-9, 5.93 ERA), who got tagged for five ER over just 3.1 IP his last time out against the red hot Royals.
INNINGS 1 – 3
Miguel Cabrera got things started for the Tigers with a solo shot in the 1st inning. Minnesota answered right back in the bottom of the 1st on an RBI single from Trevor Plouffe. Both teams went scoreless in the 2nd.
Miggy stayed hot in the 3rd inning with an RBI double scoring Cameron Maybin. Cabrera then scored on an RBI single from J.D. Martinez. Not to be outdone, Justin Upton then cleared the bases with a 3-run blast to left field, making it 6-1 Detroit. Robbie Grossman for the Twins hit a long solo shot to left to keep Minnesota within hailing distance.
(THRU 3: DET LEADS 6-2)
INNINGS 4 – 6
Not much doing for either team in the middle frames. The only scoring was a solo homer from Brian Dozier with two outs in the 5th to cut the Tigers lead to 6-3. Detroit had three base runners in this portion of the game, two of them were from Andrew Romine, who was starting in place of the slumping Ian Kinsler.
Tigers starter Matt Boyd was done after six innings of work, allowing three ER in five hits, tying a career-high with seven strikeouts.
(THRU 6: DET LEADS 6-3)
INNINGS 7 – 9
Nothing doing for either team in the 7th. Andrew Romine came through with an insurance policy in the 8th with a clutch RBI double that scored two runs to make it 8-3 Tigers;Romine advanced to third on the play from a throwing error. That was followed up by a Maybin single that brought Romine home, making it 9-3.
In the bottom of the 8th inning Plouffe continued his solid offensive game for the Twins with another RBI. In the 9th, Tigers reliever Bruce Rondon was able to shut the door and work around a leadoff single and escape the inning unscathed.
(FINAL – DET 9, MIN 4)
ADDITIONAL GAME NOTES
.@MiguelCabrera hits career home run No. 436. He's 2 home runs shy of tying Andre Dawson for 43rd in MLB history.
— Tigers PR (@DetroitTigersPR) August 25, 2016
.@JDMartinez14 extends his hitting streak to a career-high tying 14 straight games with a RBI single in the 3rd inning.
— Tigers PR (@DetroitTigersPR) August 25, 2016
.@JUST_JUP has recorded multiple hits in 4 straight games, his longest streak since 4/10-4/13/2014.
— Tigers PR (@DetroitTigersPR) August 25, 2016
.@mattboyd48 ties a career high with 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥 strikeouts tonight! #Tigers lead, 6-3, after 6 innings. pic.twitter.com/nb2ja2MdDL
— Detroit Tigers (@tigers) August 25, 2016
.@mattboyd48 has allowed 3-or-fewer runs in 8 straight starts and has posted a 2.44 ERA (44.1IP/12ER) over his last 8 starts.
— Tigers PR (@DetroitTigersPR) August 25, 2016
UP NEXT
The Tigers go for their second road sweep of the Twinkies on Thursday, first pitch is set for 1:10 p.m. ET on Fox Sports Detroit. Taking the ball for the Tigers is lefty Daniel Norris (1-2, 3.81 ERA). He has posted a 2.93 ERA in each of his last three starts, but the team has lost each of those three games he has started.
