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Adam Conley falters after strong start as Marlins fall to Tigers
DETROIT (AP) -- Adam Conley was outstanding before his start unraveled in the span of only a few batters.
"At the beginning of the game, everything was working, and I think I started taking it for granted," the Miami left-hander said. "I fell in love with my secondary pitches and that really hurt me."
Miguel Cabrera's three-run homer highlighted a seven-run fifth inning for Detroit, and the Tigers beat the Marlins 7-5 on Tuesday night. Jose Iglesias and Nick Castellanos also homered during Detroit's big inning, which came after Conley had started the game in dominant fashion.
Mike Pelfrey (2-7) allowed four runs and 12 hits in 5 1/3 innings, and that performance was enough for the win.
Giancarlo Stanton hit a two-run homer for Miami.
Conley (4-5) struck out six in the first two innings. He caught Cabrera looking in the first and swinging in the third, but when the Detroit slugger came up a third time, he hit a drive well beyond the fence in left-center field to give the Tigers a 5-3 lead.
"Cabrera was a changeup that I didn't feel committed to throwing," Conley said. "We went hard at him in the first at-bat, and that let me get him to chase a slider in the second at-bat, so that's a smart pitch. There wasn't really any rhyme or reason to throwing the changeup, and he was sitting on something soft."
Four relievers finished the game for Detroit after Pelfrey's departure. Francisco Rodriguez pitched a hitless ninth for his 21st save in 23 chances.
The Tigers were in a bit of a funk after being swept in a three-game series by AL Central-leading Cleveland. Detroit made three errors in the first five innings Tuesday.
Stanton opened the scoring in the second with his 15th homer of the season, but the Marlins couldn't break the game open when they had the chance.
"I thought that the second, third and fourth innings really changed the momentum of the game," Miami manager Don Mattingly said. "We had runners all over the place, and we didn't do anything with them."
Miami led 3-0 in the fifth when Iglesias connected for a two-run shot. After Cabrera's 17th homer of the season, Conley was taken out, and Nick Wittgren allowed a two-run drive by Castellanos.
Conley was coming off a sparkling outing against Atlanta in which he threw eight scoreless innings. He allowed five runs and five hits in 4 1/3 innings against the Tigers. He walked three and struck out nine.
NUMBER 30
Cabrera has now homered against all 30 major league teams, and it was fitting that he completed that feat against the Marlins, the team he made his debut for.
"We got the lead that inning with a home run, and it was more special because of that -- and we win the game," Cabrera said.
TRANSACTIONS
Miami purchased the contract of left-hander Jo-Jo Reyes from Triple-A New Orleans, and right-hander Paul Clemens was claimed off waivers by San Diego. Clemens went 1-0 with a 6.30 ERA for the Marlins.
TRAINER'S ROOM
Marlins: OF Marcell Ozuna (left wrist) returned after missing two games. He singled twice and scored on Stanton's homer.
Tigers: RHP Warwick Saupold (right groin strain) made an injury rehab start with Triple-A Toledo on Monday night, allowing a run and four hits in 2 2/3 innings. He struck out five.
UP NEXT
Marlins: RHP Tom Koehler (6-6) starts Wednesday against the Tigers in the finale of this two-game series. Miami is adjusting its rotation, starting Koehler in that game and pushing LHP Wei-Yin Chen back to Thursday night at Atlanta. Mattingly said he wants to match Chen up against the Braves because of the left-handed hitters in their lineup.
Tigers: LHP Daniel Norris (0-0) makes his second start of the season.
