The Detroit Tigers opened the season Friday in Cincinnati, 120 days after their originally scheduled opener in a topsy-turvy coronavirus world that featured empty stands and fake crowd noise.
What was all too familiar was the Tigers themselves: They got behind early and struggled to generate offense in a 7-1 loss to the Reds.
Left-hander Matthew Boyd started for the Tigers and struggled with control early. He walked consecutive batters and gave up two runs in a 30-pitch first inning. He surrendered a solo home run to Joey Votto in the fifth inning.