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As good as Matthew Boyd has been getting outs by throwing pitches this season, he’s been just as good getting outs by throwing balls to first base.
Boyd, who lowered his ERA to 2.79 with a great performance in Saturday’s win, caught Pirates outfielder Tommy Pham off first for the left-hander’s league-leading sixth pickoff of the season, erasing a walk that stood as the only base-runner Boyd allowed after a first-inning home run.
It’s already a career high for the veteran Boyd, eclipsing the five runners he picked off of first base while pitching for the Tigers in 2019.