DETROIT _ It was a change of pace, the way the Detroit Tigers offense awakened late and the bullpen didn't cough up a lead. And once they got that lead, manager Brad Ausmus picked the right relief pitcher.
The Tigers pieced together enough offense to win, left-hander Matthew Boyd pitched his best game of the season against the best team in the American League and the Tigers beat the Houston Astros, 5-3, Saturday at Comerica Park.
After getting stymied by righty Colin McHugh for one run on four hits through six innings, a two-out rally in the bottom of the seventh inning propelled them to victory. The inning began with rookie reliever Francis Martes hitting Nick Castellanos with a pitch on the hand. Victor Martinez's hard-hit, seeing-eye single then evaded an infield shift to left-center field.
Castellanos scored on a wild pitch before Martes struck out the next two batters swinging. Then, Jose Iglesias delivered his second RBI double to tie the game, a tie which Ian Kinsler promptly broke with a bloop RBI single to center field.
Boyd's night started bad: He allowed a two-run home run to Evan Gattis in the first inning but cruised from there. Outside of a stray run in the fourth inning _ highly-coveted trade target Derek Fisher hit an RBI triple to left-center field _ Boyd was excellent.
Boyd's final line: 71/3 innings, eight hits, three runs, no walks and five strikeouts. He was relieved by righty Shane Greene after recording the first out of the seventh inning. Greene retired both batters he faced and Justin Wilson picked up his 13th save of the season.
With the win, the Tigers improve to 46-56 on the season. They stand 8{ games back of the second American League wild-card spot.
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