DETROIT (AP) — Tom Koehler got off to another rough start, and the Miami Marlins could not recover.
The right-hander gave up four runs in the first inning, and the Detroit Tigers went on to a 10-3 win over Miami on Wednesday.
Koehler allowed four runs in the opening inning of his previous start, a 5-4 loss to the Chicago Cubs.
“It obviously looks bad because I’ve gotten into so much trouble in the first inning twice in a row, but I don’t think they had much in common,” Koehler insisted. “The Cubs were barreling up everything and just hitting rockets all over the park. I think they had six hits in 14 pitches at one point. The Tigers were just working counts and finding holes.”
Koehler (6-7) allowed five runs and eight hits in three innings.
“I don’t think I ever got settled in,” he said. “That’s a great lineup, and they just made me work for everything I got.”
When manager Don Mattingly made a move to replace Koehler with Dustin McGowan, the Tigers took advantage.
Miguel Cabrera hit his 18th homer of the season in the fourth, tying Billy Williams at No. 48 on baseball’s career list with 426. Steven Moya and Jarrod Saltalamacchia cleared the fence in consecutive at-bats in the fifth, giving Detroit an 8-2 lead.
McGowan gave up all three homers, matching a career high.
The Tigers built a cushion right away with a four-run first, getting two runs on Victor Martinez’s single off Koehler.
“It’s always going to be tough when you are behind the 8-ball at the end of the first inning, but we got those two runs in the second and got ourselves right back into the game,” Mattingly said. “The problem is that we gave one run back, and that just takes all the momentum away from you. It got sloppy after that.”
Daniel Norris (1-0) struck out a career-high eight and gave up two runs on eight hits and a walk over five innings.
Norris started for the second time this season, replacing Matt Boyd in the rotation after he was sent to Triple-A Toledo earlier this month.
The Marlins put two on in the first before Norris struck out Marcell Ozuna looking and Giancarlo Stanton swinging to end the threat.
“With the traffic, the strikeouts became very important,” Tigers manager Brad Ausmus said.
Ichiro Suzuki had two hits for Miami, increasing his major league total to 2,988. Martin Prado had four hits for the third time this season.
Cabrera hit two homers in two games against his former team, and his latest shot soared into the seats in left-center in a matter of seconds.
“It’s something you don’t see very often and I get to see it every time he hits one,” teammate Ian Kinsler said. “It’s a lot of fun to watch.”
TRAINER’S ROOM
Marlins: Ozuna, who missed Miami’s last two home games with a sore wrist, was able to play in both games against Detroit.
Tigers: Moya played after testing a knee injury Wednesday morning that he sustained Friday, leading to him missing the next two games.
UP NEXT
Marlins: LHP Wei-Yin Chen (4-2) will start for Miami when its road trip continues Thursday night at Atlanta.
Tigers: RHP Jordan Zimmermann (9-4) takes the mound for Detroit when it begins a road trip Thursday night at Tampa Bay.
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