Detroit Tigers swept by Boston Red Sox with 4-1 loss: Game thread recap
Detroit Tigers (2-6) vs. Boston Red Sox (4-4)
When: 1:10 p.m. Sunday.
Where: Comerica Park in Detroit.
TV: Bally Sports Detroit.
Radio: WXYT-FM(97.1 in Detroit; other Tigers radio affiliates).
First-pitch forecast: Sunny, 55 degrees.
Starting pitchers: Tigers LHP Matthew Boyd (0-0, 4.15 ERA) vs. Red Sox RHP Kutter Crawford (0-1, 15.75).
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Tigers lineup:
1. Akil Baddoo (LF)
2. Riley Greene (CF)
3. Javier Báez (SS)
4. Kerry Carpenter (RF)
5. Spencer Torkelson (1B)
6. Nick Maton (3B)
7. Miguel Cabrera (DH)
8. Jonathan Schoop (2B)
9. Eric Haase (C)
Game notes: It is extremely pleasing, in a “this is how the world should work” sort of way, to report that Kutter Crawford — yes, that is his real name (middle name: Martin) — does, indeed, throw a cutter. The 27-year-old Florida native relied on his cut fastball 31.6% of the time last season, though batters hit .284 with a .431 slugging percentage on the pitch. That’s better than this season, however: In his April 3 start against the Pirates, Crawford threw the cutter on 32 of his 93 pitches (34.4%), with the Bucs putting it in play six times, for five hits (including a double and a home run). Little surprise, then, that Crawford — aka @krawdaddy_1 on Instagram — gave up seven runs on eight hits and two walks over four innings, with six strikeouts and three homers allowed. (Crawford is one of just seven Florida Gulf Coast University alumni to make the majors; the Tigers faced the most famous one on Thursday in their home opener: Chris Sale, who after some early struggles, carved them up for seven strikeouts over five innings.)
For the Tigers, meanwhile, Matthew Boyd mostly relied on a mix of his four-seamer (43.4%), slider (27.6%) and changeup (19.7%) in his start against the Astros on April 3. The slider was particularly effective in Houston; Boyd ended six at-bats with it, while getting all three of his strikeouts with it. It’s a throwback to Boyd’s most effective full season with the Tigers, 2018. That season, his slider was devastating, with a minus-13 run value that ranked 11th in the majors.
After this matinee, the Tigers get another day off, then head to Toronto for a three-game set vs. the Blue Jays on Tuesday-Thursday. The BoSox, though, won’t get a day off; they’re headed to St. Petersburg, Florida, to face the majors’ last remaining unbeaten, the Rays, for a four-game set beginning Monday night.
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This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Detroit Tigers lose to Boston Red Sox, 4-1: Game thread recap
