Tim Anderson breaks up Boyd’s no-hitter with two outs in ninth

DETROIT — Tigers left-hander Matthew Boyd almost had the White Sox’ number.

Almost. With two outs in the ninth inning, his bid for a no-hitter was broken up by Sox shortstop Tim Anderson, who lined a changeup to right-center field for a double in the Tigers’ 12-0 victory Sunday at Comerica Park.

With fans on their feet cheering every pitch in the ninth, Boyd was bidding to became the first Tiger to throw a no-hitter since Justin Verlander blanked the Blue Jays in Toronto in 2011. The only cheers went up in the Sox’ dugout as Boyd settled for his first career shutout and complete game.

“Just try not to let this happen,’’ Anderson said of his thoughts while walking up to the plate. “Try not to let him throw a no-hitter.’’

Kevan Smith (10 games), Avisail Garcia (nine) and Yoan Moncada (eight) had hitting streaks broken by Boyd, their only consolation knowing the Sox didn’t get skunked.

“Oh, geez, we were so happy,’’ said Smith, who grounded out to second as a pinch hitter for the second out in the ninth. “No-hitters are fun to watch, but you never want to be the team on the other end of it. Hats off to Boyd, he pitched a heck of a game. But it was awesome to see Timmy get that knock.’’

Boyd (6-10) struck out five and walked one, falling short of becoming the first pitcher to no-hit the Sox since Twins left-hander Francisco Liriano did it in 2011. He threw 121 pitches, 76 for strikes.

“My first instinct was, ‘Aw, I left it up,’ ’’ Boyd said of Anderson’s drive. “But he struck it well, man, and he hit it to a big part of the park. So hats off to him. I beat him on that pitch earlier in the day. He was ready for it that time.”

Boyd was 0-4 with a 6.13 ERA in eight career starts against the Sox, including 0-3, 7.20 this season. He retired Adam Engel on a foul pop-up to third base and got Smith before Anderson’s drive sailed comfortably beyond right fielder Nicholas Castellanos’ reach. Moncada then grounded out to third to end the game.

The Sox came in having outscored opponents 69-26 with 14 home runs during a 6-2 stretch. They had 25 hits and 17 runs against the Tigers in the series opener Thursday.

“Half of us had head colds that day,” Smith said. “On a day when guys feel good, you get no hits.”

The Sox ended Rockies rookie left-hander Kyle Freeland’s no-hit bid when Melky Cabrera singled with one out in the ninth inning at Colorado on July 9. Manager Rick Renteria said that game didn’t cross his mind during this one.

“Honestly, I was just trying to grab a bat,’’ Renteria said.

“It’s a little frustrating because we’re looking at what this young man is doing against us.

‘‘He’s looking away, he’s showing in. Hitting coaches are talking to players about what this guy is doing in his attack, staying away with offspeed, bust one in a little bit every now and then to keep you off-balance. You have to give him credit because he’s changing the variance in his velocities in his changeup and was turning it over pretty well.’’

Anderson was “looking for something slow” in the ninth inning.

“I was kind of figuring he would throw a changeup there,’’ he said. “He had been doing that to me the whole game, so I was able to get a good pitch to hit.’’

Sox right-hander Dylan Covey gave up five runs in 3 2/3 innings.

Follow me on Twitter @CST_soxvan.

Email: dvanschouwen@suntimes.com

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