Diamondbacks hand Tigers their third shutout in June, 5-0

Detroit — Matt Boyd has regrets.

He'd have to look at the tape to name all of them, but he can name at least one off the top of his head: The 1-1 curveball he threw to Arizona Diamondbacks designated hitter Lourdes Gurriel Jr. that turned a two-run deficit into five with one swing of the bat.

"That second-to-last at-bat, that was one I definitely could have been better in trying to win that 1-1 count," he said.

But on Saturday, the truth is that none of Boyd's mistakes truly mattered. The Tigers, for the third time this month, didn't score a run. The Arizona Diamondbacks just needed a pair of homers to topple the Tigers in a matinee, 5-0, at Detroit's Comerica Park.

"There was a time I've stood at this podium and talked about too many missed opportunities," Tigers manager A.J. Hinch said. "And now we're talking about too few, right? We haven't been able to find a ton of momentum on offense."

BOX SCORE: Diamondbacks 5, Tigers 0

Kerry Carpenter can't do it by himself, but he's certainly tried since returning from the injured list Friday. The Tigers outfielder on Saturday went 3-for-4 with a double, making up half of Detroit's six total hits in the game, and threw out a runner at home plate.

Carpenter had two hits for the Tigers (26-36) in Friday's 11-6 loss to the Diamondbacks and accounted for just one run in the series' first two games despite reaching base five times. Cabrera and outfielder Jake Marisnick accounted for Detroit's other three hits.

"In a critical play, I thought he came up and threw a great ball home," Hinch said. "And then the bat was exciting. It's one of the bats that we've really missed in the middle of our order against right-handed pitching ... and (he) really was a bright spot today."

Arizona got the best of Boyd with a pair of emphatic homers that would end up being the only runs scored. Gurriel and Nick Ahmed each hit multi-run homers. It marked just another instance of Boyd delivering good stuff for most of the game, only to be completely unraveled by one or two mistakes.

"It's real unfortunate, but when it comes down to it, I'm confident with where the stuff is, confident with how I am and coming into this," Boyd said. "Sometimes this happens. You just stay right at it, work on the things you control — getting ahead and repeatability — and when it comes down to ... the big mistakes, sometimes it's pitch selection, sometimes it's execution.

"You just take it for what they are, and you just move forward and grow from it."

Boyd retired the Diamondbacks (39-25) on three straight putouts to open the game but had no such success in the second inning, despite opening the frame with two straight outs. Pavin Smith singled to keep the inning alive for Ahmed, who took advantage of a 2-0 count by unloading on a fastball to make it 2-0. Ahmed's home run, the second of his season, traveled 404 feet.

Boyd (3-5, 5.55 ERA) was pulled after five innings with six hits, five earned runs, two walks and three strikeouts. He threw 88 pitches and 59 strikes.

"I felt early, he got into the game excellent," Hinch said. "He got into leverage, he got through the top of their order. ... Overall, it doesn't look good because of the way the game ended for him and ... it didn't feel very good, but I know he battled."

Cabrera doubled with two outs in the second inning and again in the ninth, putting him on a bit of a hot streak. He doubled in his last appearance against Philadelphia.

Arizona added to its lead with a three-run fifth inning. Gabriel Moreno got things going with a double and Ketel Marte walked, setting the stage for a 418-foot bomb to left off the bat of Gurriel.

Detroit chased Diamondbacks starter Ryne Nelson, who earned the victory, after loading the bases in the sixth. Carpenter cranked a two-out double to left and Spencer Torkelson and Nick Maton walked. Arizona brought in right-hander Austin Adams to face the righty hitter Zack Short, whose flyout to dead center got a rise out of the fans but did, indeed, end the inning without any damage done.

Mason Englert and Jose Cisnero each pitched an inning of scoreless relief for the Tigers and Tyler Alexander threw two.

nbianchi@detroitnews.com

Twitter: @nolanbianchi