DETROIT _ The trip was planned months ago, before the season started and long before anyone could have possibly known that Matthew Boyd would be starting Tuesday night for the Detroit Tigers.
"I will tell you," Phillies general manager Matt Klentak said before the game, "it's a little overblown that Matt Klentak is here to scout Matthew Boyd."
Still, it represented an opportunity.
In taking his turn as the Phillies' designated baseball-operations executive on the road for the two-game interleague series here at Comerica Park, Klentak got a chance to watch a pitcher of interest who might be dealt before the July 31 trade deadline. And he had to be impressed. It wasn't merely that Boyd went six innings or racked up eight strikeouts. It was that he stood toe-to-toe with Aaron Nola and gave the team with the worst record in baseball a chance to win.
The Tigers didn't, of course. It took 15 innings, but the Phillies finally vanquished them, 3-2, on Scott Kingery's leadoff triple and an RBI single by Rhys Hoskins.
If the Phillies wind up making the playoffs for the first time since 2011, circle this game as a difference-maker. They overcame striking out 18 times, a season-high, and going 1 for 9 with runners in scoring position. They got another strong start from Nola, 3 2/3 innings of scoreless relief from Nick Pivetta, and a game-saving play from fill-in left fielder Brad Miller.
Nick Castellanos had led off the 14th inning with a double against Juan Nicasio. Three batters later, pinch-hitter Brandon Dixon singled to left field. Miller, a utility player who entered the game two innings earlier, came up throwing with an accurate throw, and catcher J.T. Realmuto made a perfect tag to keep the game tied at 2-2.
The Phillies responded in the 15th inning when Kingery tripled off the base of the wall in right field and Hoskins lined a single, his second game-winning hit in as many games. The Phillies have won four of their last five games and five of their last eight.
Before all of that, though, the first half of the game was a duel between Nola and Boyd.
Nola lacked his typically precise command, hitting three batters, walking one and throwing only 67 strikes out of 105 pitches. But he had a sharp curveball, a powerful sinker, and his usual ability to make pitches that got him out of jams. He got the Tigers to bounce into double plays in the second and third innings and escaped a two-on, two-out situation in the fourth when Christin Stewart grounded out.
Boyd, meanwhile, was effective with primarily a fastball-slider. He doesn't throw hard, averaging only 92 mph with his fastball and topping out at 95 against the Phillies. But his slider, in particular, was nasty. He got 12 swings and misses and recorded four of his strikeouts with the pitch, including two dirt-diving sliders that fooled J.T. Realmuto and Nick Williams.
So why would the Tigers trade Boyd? Well, they might not.
The 28-year-old lefty is under club control for three more seasons and might only now be entering his prime, giving the Tigers a chance of being competitive again before he's eligible for free agency. But if they're able to peddle a pitcher with a 4.07 ERA this season and a 4.56 mark since 2016 for a package of major league players and top prospects, they would be foolish to not entertain it.
It's no secret that the Phillies must improve their starting pitching. Entering the game, their rotation ranked 17th in the majors with a 4.57 ERA and last in the National League with a 5.05 fielding independent pitching. Last weekend, they bumped Pivetta to the bullpen to make room for recently signed lefty Drew Smyly, a reclamation project two years removed from Tommy John elbow surgery. Jake Arrieta is pitching with a bone spur in his elbow. Zach Eflin says he has been feeling fatigued.
"We still believe in the talent of these arms in the rotation," Klentak said, while acknowledging that the starters have given up far too many home runs to be successful.
After a 38-minute rain delay at the outset, the Tigers jumped to a lead without getting a hit in the first inning. Harold Castro reached on a two-base error when Kingery booted a grounder, then went to third on a fielder's choice and scored on a wild pitch by Nola.
But the Phillies grabbed a 2-1 lead on one swing in the second inning. After Adam Haseley beat out an infield single to the left side against an overshifted defense, Roman Quinn lined a fastball over the left-field wall for his first home run since last Sept. 14.
After that, though, the Phillies got only one more hit against Boyd and five more hits overall. They left the bases loaded in the sixth inning and stranded the go-ahead run on second base in the ninth and 11th innings.
