Goodrum, Boyd lift Tigers to blank Orioles in league match

Niko Goodrum homered and Matthew Boyd threw six solid innings as the visiting Detroit Tigers defeated the Baltimore Orioles 3-0 on Tuesday night. The Tigers scored a run in the first and second, and that gave starter Boyd all the support that he needed. Detroit never trailed in this game, and the struggling Tigers won for the second time in their last 14 games.

Boyd (5-4) threw six shutout innings and ended a personal two-game losing streak. He scattered six hits and fanned eight while walking just one and throwing 66 strikes on 96 pitches. The left-hander was pulled after giving up a walk and a single to start the seventh. Detroit eventually used four relief pitchers over the final three innings, and Shane Greene closed it in the ninth.

Greene now has 17 saves in the 20 Tigers victories. Baltimore starter Dylan Bundy gave the Orioles a good effort, but the offence could not help him out. Bundy (2-6) went seven innings and gave up three runs on seven hits while striking out eight without a walk.

The Tigers took the lead in the first when Christin Stewart doubled with one out and then scored on a Miguel Cabrera two-out single. They made it 2-0 in the second when Grayson Greiner reached on a two-out single. He then scored when JaCoby Jones doubled to centre.

Detroit stretched the lead to 3-0 in the fifth when Goodrum belted a homer to right-centre, his fourth this season. Bundy now has given up 13 home runs in 59 innings already this season; he allowed 41 in 2018. Detroit's offence, which has been inconsistent, missed on some scoring chances. The Tigers went 1-for-11 with runners in scoring position but did enough to win.

DJ Stewart made his 2019 debut for the Orioles in this game and went 3-for-4. A former first-round pick who was called up from Triple-A Norfolk earlier in the day, Stewart played right field and batted sixth.