Smyly falters in fourth; Holaday plates Tigers' runs

LAKELAND, Fla. -- Jake Marisnick doubled in two runs and scored another as the Marlins roughed up Drew Smyly, sending Miami to a 4-2 win over Detroit on Thursday afternoon at Joker Marchant Stadium.

Marisnick's second hit of the day was part of a string of three consecutive hits off Smyly, who later said he has struggled to find the bite on a cutter that serves as a big pitch for him against right-handed hitters. The pitcher escaped a first-inning run following Marisnick's leadoff single, when shortstop Eugenio Suarez threw out Marisnick at the plate.

Smyly eluded major damage at other points, including a running catch by Austin Jackson in deep center field on Christian Yelich's drive and a Giancarlo Stanton flyout to deep left. Garrett Jones broke the string with a slicing double down the left-field line to score Yelich in the third inning.

"They were making me work," Smyly said. "They had a good amount of singles that fell in somewhere, and they had some hard-hit singles, and they had some timely hits. All the way around, it was just not a good day."

The hit was Jones' first off a lefty this spring. The left-handed hitter is in line for more playing time against southpaws, off whom he was 0-for-8 entering the day.

Smyly's damage control ran out in the fourth, when Ed Lucas' single and Adeiny Hechavarria's double off the right-field fence set up Marisnick. Yelich's walk ended Smyly's afternoon, then Stanton hit a sac fly off Jose Alvarez.

Backup catcher Bryan Holaday plated both Tigers runs, with a second-inning sac fly scoring Jackson and a fourth-inning infield single plating Torii Hunter.

Smyly gave up four runs on eight hits over 3 1/3 innings, walking two and striking out one. Marlins counterpart Jacob Turner, who lost out to Smyly for a rotation spot in Tigers camp in 2012, earned the win with four solid innings.

Up next: Phil Coke, Al Alburquerque and Bruce Rondon get their latest chances to determine their fit in the Tigers' bullpen when they pitch in relief of Rick Porcello against the Nationals on Friday. Game time is 1:05 p.m. ET at Joker Marchant Stadium, as the Tigers continue their three-game homestand. Taylor Jordan, a rumored Tigers trade target before Detroit acquired Robbie Ray in the Doug Fister deal, is scheduled to start for Washington.