Boyd throws 8 scoreless innings, Tigers beat Cincinnati 2-1
DETROIT (AP) Once Matthew 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 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.
Boyd (6-9) won his second straight start after going seven in a row without a victory.
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. Bailey did end up with his seventh career complete game and first since 2014.
It was the first major league hit and RBI for Gerber.
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. That's baseball. It happens. But I like the fact that he was out there twice for us with a double and a triple.''
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.
The Tigers improved to 2-9 in interleague play this year, and the Reds fell to 10-4.
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. ''Probably as of a few weeks ago, I feel like I have a lot of things behind me, whether it's injury, or getting back to feeling the way that I know I can pitch the way that I have in the past.''
DEADLINE DAY
Detroit traded outfielder Leonys Martin to Cleveland for a minor league infielder. That was the only deal for the Tigers on the day of the non-waiver trade deadline.
Pitchers Mike Fiers and Francisco Liriano seemed like potential trade candidates, but nothing came together involving them.
''The market was really flooded with a lot of good players,'' Detroit general manager Al Avila said. ''We have some good players, but if you see the list of players that were available, you're talking about, I think it's a record number. I was trying to be optimistic, but at the same time, I knew it was going to be a tough year to make multiple trades.''
Cincinnati traded outfielder Adam Duvall to Atlanta on Monday night, then had a quiet day Tuesday.
Detroit recalled Gerber from Triple-A Toledo to take Martin's spot on the roster. The Reds optioned right-handers Lucas Sims and Matt Wisler, who were acquired for Duvall, to Triple-A Louisville. Outfielder Preston Tucker, who Cincinnati also got in that trade, is on the major league roster but did not play Tuesday.
TRAINER'S ROOM
Reds: OF Scott Schebler (right shoulder) had three hits Tuesday as part of a rehab assignment with Louisville.
UP NEXT
The Tigers send Fiers (7-6) to the mound Wednesday against Cincinnati's Sal Romano (6-8).
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