Matthew Boyd pitched arguably his best game of the year, and possibly his career, but unfortunately a guy named Corey Kluber was on the mound for the Indians and there is no margin for error when he is on his game.
Kluber went the distance to shut out the Detroit Tigers 2-0 Tuesday night, giving the Indians their 20th consecutive victory.
Cleveland tied the post-expansion record set by the Oakland Athletics in 2002. If they win on Wednesday, they'll tie the 1935 Chicago Cubs, who have the longest win streak in the last 100 years.
Indians shortstop Francisco Lindor hit a lead-off home run off of Matthew Boyd after an eight-pitch at-bat. It was all the Indians would need.
Kluber gave up a two-strike, two-out double to Alex Presley, bringing Miguel Cabrera to the plate as the potential tying run. With the crowd standing and cheering, Cabrera grounded out to end the game.
NOTABLE
Tigers starter Matthew Boyd threw a career-high 116 pitches yet lasted just five innings a labored yet resilient outing.
He allowed the lead-off home run to Lindor and then escaped bases-loaded jams in the second and third innings.
He allowed just the one run on six hits in five innings, striking out five and walking one.
Boyd bent but did not break, showing gumption in big situations against the best team in the AL. In the second inning, after three consecutive singles to load the bases, he struck out Yan Gomes and induced a pop out by Lindor. In the third, after two singles and a walk, he got Gomes again.
Boyd has a 1.91 ERA (six earned runs in 28 1/3 innings) in his five career appearances against the Indians.
The Indians scored their second run in the sixth inning when a wild pitch thrown by Drew VerHagen bounced away from catcher Bryan Holaday. Carlos Santana, who led off the inning with double off Blaine Hardy, raced home to score.
Tigers right fielder Nicholas Castellanos extended his hitting streak to nine games with a single and double off Kluber. He has five multi-games during his current streak.
Two Tigers who entered the game with strong career track records against Kluber had little success on Tuesday.
Miguel Cabrera entered with the highest slugging percentage (.830) among players who have faced Kluber more than 20 times. He went 0-for-4 with two strikeouts and two groundouts.
Catcher Bryan Holaday entered the game 7-for-14 with a home run and a double, which is why he got the start over James McCann and John Hicks. Holaday also went 0-for-3 against Kluber.
The Tigers had few chances to score against Kluber and failed to take advantage of the best one in the first inning.
Ian Kinsler led off with a double down the right field line. Alex Presley sacrificed him to third base, but then Cabrera and Castellanos struck out to end the inning. (Cabrera didn't like the call by home plate umpire Scott Barry, and replays appeared to show the ball was a couple inches off the plate).
https://www.mlb.com/gameday/tigers-...nal,lock_state=final,game_tab=box,game=492259
Boxscore.
ROARS
Matthew Boyd: The young lefty pitched arguably his best game since returning to the majors. After a leadoff home run to Lindor he battled with Indians hitters the rest of the night, grinding out five innings of one run, six strikeout ball on 115 pitches.
HISSES Tip of the Cap
Its hard to give a hiss to the Tigers offense for getting shutdown by Kluber. His shutout was his 5th this year. This was a legitimate tip your cap night.
STATS and INFO
The Tigers maintain their grip on the fourth overall draft spot at two games over the Cincinnati Reds and sit just three games behind the White Sox and Giants for second and third pick.