Entirely pleasant. 

Tigers 6, Red Sox 2

If I were to tell you that the Tigers won on a Friday night against the Red Sox in a game started by Drew Smyly (9 GS, 54 ⅓ IP, 3.81 ERA, 4.28 FIP, 0.5 fWAR) in early June, you’d probably be ecstatic. The Tigers beat a great team with their worst pitcher! Well, let’s leave aside the context of this game and the seventeen games it followed and simply enjoy the performance. Smyly got off to a rough start, allowing two hard hits that lead to a run in the first, but got on track in a hurry, allowing just another run in six innings with four strikeouts and one walk to boot. The bats also contributed with a run in the third and fourth and two solo shots in the fifth (Kinsler/Hunter) and another in the 8th (VMart) to go with a sac fly. They also turned it over to the bullpen for the final three and didn’t surrender a run! A clear win! Add on runs! Hooray! They’ll look to take the series with Max Scherzer (12 GS, 78 ⅔ IP, 3.20 ERA, 3.12 FIP, 1.8 fWAR) on Saturday night.

The Moment: Bryan Holaday tripled!