Pittsburgh Pirates

Young starters square off as Tigers face Pirates (Aug 08, 2017)

Published Aug. 8, 2017 3:04 a.m. ET

PITTSBURGH -- The Detroit Tigers and Pittsburgh Pirates have met in interleague play every season since 2009, but their series are still rare enough that often their starting pitchers are new to the matchup.

That is the case Tuesday when Chad Kuhl starts for the Pirates and Matthew Boyd starts for the Tigers in the second game of a home-and-home series that moves to Detroit on Wednesday.

The four-game set kicked off Monday with the Pirates earning 3-0 victory. Trevor Williams and two Pittsburgh relievers pitched a one-hitter, and pinch hitter John Jaso hit a two-run homer.

James McCann's third-inning single was Detroit's only hit.

Kuhl (4-7, 4.53 ERA), who earned a spot in the rotation out of spring, is growing more comfortable lately.

The 24-year-old right-hander won his first start of the year, then didn't get a victory in 12 consecutive starts. Now Kuhl is 2-1 with a 2.70 ERA over his past seven starts.

"We're still kind of moving the pieces around of who he is, giving him the opportunity to go out and create the guy who he can be," Pirates manager Clint Hurdle said. "I don't think we've got our fingerprint on that yet. There has been continual growth. There is still a lot of room for growth in a lot of different areas."

Kuhl had a strong start his last time out, when he matched his career high with seven innings while giving up just four singles, striking out six and walking two Thursday in a 6-0 win over the Cincinnati Reds. He was one strikeout shy of his career best.

One area that is evolving is his pitch repertoire.

He has gone stretches without going to his curveball. Other times, he has mixed it in well with his bread-and-butter fastball.

"It's been tough to go through the struggles," Kuhl said. "But games like (Thursday) make it all worth it. It's definitely a process and you're going to take your beatings, but it's really nice to see it all come together."

Hurdle said, "There has been continual growth. There is still a lot of room for growth in a lot of different areas."

Boyd, a 26-year-old left-hander, is 5-5 with a 5.35 ERA, but he took a step backward in his most recent outing.

Boyd had three quality starts (and three wins) in a row before hitting a rut Thursday in a no-decision during Detroit's 7-5 victory at Baltimore.

After striking out four through two innings, he struggled with his command beginning in the third and got pulled with one out in the fifth even though Detroit staked him to a 7-0 lead.

Boyd gave up three runs on five hits, walking four.

"I will take a 7-0 lead every time, don't get me wrong," Boyd said. "But I need to be a little better and sharper once we get that lead. That's in my control. That's something I can do. I just have to go out there and do it."

Kuhl, who is facing Detroit for the first time, is 0-0 with a 2.08 ERA in three interleague starts.

Boyd is facing Pittsburgh for the first time. He is 1-1 with a 5.40 ERA in three interleague appearances (two starts).