Tigers fans feeling proud as former pitcher delivered in the clutch for Cubs in NLDS

On the National League side of the postseason bracket, the Dodgers were the first team to clinch an NLCS berth over the Phillies on Thursday, thanks to an egregious error in extra innings from pitcher Orion Kerkering. The Cubs and Brewers are still duking it out and are headed to a Game 5 after Chicago stormed back from a two-game deficit.

Game 4 at Wrigley, with the Cubs' season on the line, featured a familiar face. Former Tigers pitcher Matthew Boyd, in his third start of the postseason, pitched 4 2/3 innings of scoreless baseball. He got into some trouble early in the fifth when he gave up a double and then a walk, but Craig Counsell let him get the first two outs of the inning — the second on a strikeout — before he was pulled.

He walked back to the dugout to a well-deserved standing ovation from Cubs fans. It the bounce-back performance he needed after his Game 1 start ended after just two outs and eventually six runs (only two earned).

Boyd's eight seasons in Detroit were mostly a disappointment, and fans couldn't fathom why the Tigers re-signed him in 2023 after a year in Seattle, but it's impossible not to be happy for the guy after the year he's had with the Cubs.

Former Tigers starter Matthew Boyd dazzled in Cubs-Brewers NLDS Game 4

Boyd earned his first All-Star nod this season and is a shoo-in to be NL Comeback Player of the Year after pitching 179 2/3 innings for a 3.21 ERA in the regular season, only the third fully healthy year of his 11-year career. There aren't many players left on the Tigers who played with Boyd, but Tarik Skubal credits Boyd as a mentor during his first two seasons. Boyd even bought him his first suit.

Over his eight years as a Tiger, Boyd pitched 848 2/3 innings for a 4.92 ERA. To be fair to him, he was a part of basically all of the worst, early-rebuild teams the Tigers fielded, but five of his seasons were abbreviated by injury, including the one year he was re-signed for.

But bygones are bygones, and Tigers fans have no reason to feel anything but proud of him after he put his team in the best possible position to advance to the NLCS.