ARLINGTON, Texas � It wasn't pretty.
And with the way the Tigers left opportunity after opportunity by the wayside early in Saturday night's game against the Rangers, against one of the best teams in baseball, it seemed pretty unlikely things would go their way.
But left-hander Matt Boyd had other plans.
Baserunning blunders be damned � and there were plenty of them early � the Tigers provided Boyd with enough offense to snap their five-game losing streak against an unlikely opponent: Rangers lefty ace Cole Hamels.
Boyd bested Hamels in a big way, pitching seven scoreless innings in a 2-0 win at Globe Life Park. It was the best outing of Boyd's short big league career. He allowed just two hits and two walks and struck out three.
Boyd was backed by a top-to-bottom offensive effort against Hamels, totaling 14 hits, which tied a Rangers franchise record against a starter.
The Tigers scored once in each of the fifth and sixth innings to wash the bad taste of those baserunning blunders away. In the fifth, Victor Martinez hit a RBI single to centerfield. In the sixth, Casey McGehee hit a RBI double to rightfield.
McGehee, hitting second, went 4-for-4. It was his seventh career four-hit game. Mike Aviles, playing centerfield, went 2-for-3 with a walk.
The Tigers missed many early opportunities. They left two men on in the first inning, the bases loaded in the second and two more in the third. In the fourth, Aviles aggressively ran into an out at third base, attempting to go first-to-third on a single to leftfield with nobody out. Then, Jarrod Saltalamacchia was thrown out at home plate on a bloop double by Ian Kinsler. In the fifth, the Tigers got on the board courtesy of Martinez's RBI single but Aviles grounded out with the bases loaded. In total, they went 2-for-10 with runners in scoring position and left 12 men on base.
But it didn't matter, not with the brand of pitching from Boyd and the back-end of the bullpen. Boyd kept the Rangers hitters off-balance with a steady diet of breaking balls, most notably, the curveball. He retired 10 in a row in the middle innings and 14 of his final 16 batters.
Boyd gave way to righty Shane Greene, who was pitching for the first time in a week. After a lead-off single of Jurickson Profar in the bottom of the eighth, Greene sat down the next three batters in order.
Francisco Rodriguez locked down the much-needed shutout win with his 32nd save in 35 tries, pitching a scoreless ninth inning. It was the sixth time the Rangers were shut out this season.
With the win, the Tigers picked up half a game in the American League Central division and in the race for the league's second Wild Card spot. They stand 4 { back of the Indians and 1 { back of the Red Sox.
