On August 28, 1914, the Nashville club sold Boland to the Detroit Tigers. He made his major league debut on April 14, 1915, as a member of the 1915 Detroit Tigers that compiled a 100-54 for the second best winning percentage in franchise history. Boland's record in his rookie season was 13–7 with a 3.11 earned run average. On August 16, 1915, he came within four batters of throwing a no hitter, retiring the first 23 Cleveland Indians batters he faced, only to give up a lone single to Ben Paschal, a 19-year-old pinch-hitter who was making his major league debut. Paschal's hit off Boland was his only hit of the 1915 season. Boland and the Tigers went on to win the game 3–1.