KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Ron Gardenhire had a prediction.
Twice during his postgame media session with reporters after Saturday evening’s loss to the Royals, he predicted Matthew Boyd would say the same thing: That the walks Boyd issued were the reason he lost.
“I promise if you talk to him,” Gardenhire said, “He’ll probably talk about the walks that really ended up hurting him more than anything else.”
Said Boyd: “Oh, they did. It was really the only thing that hurt me. It was self-inflicted.”
Boyd, the Detroit Tigers’ most prized trade chip, was dominant for the first four innings before allowing four runs — far too many for the Tigers’ disappearing-act offense to overcome — in perhaps his fourth-to-last start with the team.