BRADENTON, Fla. — The Detroit Tigers defeated the Pittsburgh Pirates, 5-2, on Friday at LECOM Park, improving to 11-11 in Grapefruit League play.
What happened
Left-hander Matthew Boyd, the Opening Day starter, pitched into the fifth and sixth innings for the first time this spring. He was incredibly efficient, using 75 pitches (52 strikes) and worked into plenty of quick two-strike counts. He struck out Colin Moran to open the sixth before manager AJ Hinch went to the bullpen. Robbie Grossman crushed a home run into the left-field parking lot on the fourth pitch of the game from Pirates starter Tyler Anderson.