Early Mistakes Cost Matthew Boyd, Tigers in 2-0 Loss to Twins
Matthew Boyd needed only 10 pitches to get through the first inning of last Saturday's matchup with the Twins at Comerica Park. Today's first inning will go down as the only blemish on an otherwise spotless performance at Target Field.
Early homers sting Boyd
Friday's 28 pitch first inning for Boyd included the third time this season that he's given up back-to-back home runs to begin an outing. Today, the two homers accounted for the 2-0 final score in favor of Minnesota.
The first bomb came off the bat of leadoff hitter Jorge Polanco on a 3-2 changeup that hung over the plate. The second came with two strikes against Josh Donaldson, who's now responsible for three runs in less than 24 hours since making a resounding return to the Twins lineup last night.
"Those first two hitters I was probably worrying about things that I shouldn't be worrying about instead of going out there and attacking the glove,'' Matthew Boyd said. "It kind of became clear to me, I made that adjustment a little bit into the Cruz at-bat, and it's unfortunate those were two costly mistakes."
Despite the inauspicious start to game one, Boyd managed to settle in and write a cleaner script in the 61 pitches that he threw after the first.
The 29-year-old left-hander did well to utilize his entire repertoire, mixing speeds and eye-levels en-route to compiling eight strikeouts on the day and allowing only one hit after the first.
Dobnak flips the script
The 12 hits and six earned runs that Randy Dobnak allowed vs. the Tigers at Comerica Park last week were both career highs. This visual of Dobnak included him repeatedly slamming his glove on the dugout bench in frustration after a laborious 73-pitch outing.
Today, he'll be crowned the winner of a pitchers' duel at Target Field after needing 61 pitches to make it through five innings.
Dobnak retired eight straight batters before heading to the dugout with a much brighter smile after this week's outing against Detroit. Dobnak moves to 6-2 on the year with a 2.72 ERA.
Chances left on base
The newly implemented seven-inning doubleheaders provide limited opportunities in a game with good pitching. The Tigers didn't have many in game one, but unfortunately squandered the ones that they did.
Detroit had runners on the corners with one out in the first inning and men on first and second base with nobody out in the second, but couldn't cash in.
The offense went down in 1-2-3 fashion in the fourth, fifth and sixth innings until one final glimmer of hope shined through in the seventh.
Travis Demeritte represented the tying run with two outs while Jeimer Candelario anxiously waited at second, but left-hander Taylor Rogers completed the shutout with a 95 mph 3-2 fastball.
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