Detroit Tigers' bullpen bumped off in 8-6 loss to Miami Marlins

MIAMI — The Detroit Tigers and Miami Marlins traded blows in the late innings.

But the Marlins packed some power in their punches: A two-run home run from Garrett Cooper in the seventh inning off left-handed reliever Tyler Holton and a solo homer from Jean Segura in the eighth inning off right-handed reliever Jose Cisnero.

The three-run swing from the Marlins on two home runs led to the Tigers' 8-6 loss in Sunday's series finale at loanDepot Park. The Tigers (47-59) have lost seven of their past 10 games.

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Starting pitchers Tarik Skubal (for the Tigers) and Jesús Luzardo (for the Marlins) struggled in different innings and in different ways, but both top-tier southpaws allowed four runs across 4⅔ innings.

The game went into the sixth inning tied, 4-4.

The Tigers stranded two runners in the top of the sixth, and in the bottom of the sixth, a controversial rundown between second base and third base led to the Marlins taking their first lead of the series finale.

With one out, Jon Berti — a native of Troy and alumnus of Troy High School — reached safely on a throwing error by third baseman Zach McKinstry. Three pitches later, Berti stole second base as the ball got past catcher Jake Rogers and attempted to advance to third base. But Rogers recovered quickly and fired to third baseman Zach McKinstry, catching Berti in a rundown along with second baseman Zack Short.

But Berti collided with Short in the basepath, leading third-base umpire Jansen Visconti to rule interference and award Berti third base.

Shortstop Javier Báez argued the call on the field to no avail.

The Marlins then took a 5-4 lead with Avisail Garcia's single off right-handed reliever Brendan White.

The Tigers responded to the momentum-changing rundown, however, by retaking the lead, 6-5, in the seventh. Kerry Carpenter, a left-handed hitter, stayed in the game to face left-handed reliever A.J. Puk.

Carpenter stepped to the plate with one out and the bases loaded. He attacked a first-pitch sweeper, which caught too much of the middle of the plate, for a ground-ball single to right field.

Báez and Jake Rogers scored on Carpenter's single for a 6-5 lead. Miguel Cabrera, who had drawn a walk, advanced to third base on the play. He was removed for pinch-runner Akil Baddoo to complete the final game of his career in Miami.

Cabrera, who waved to the crowd, received a standing ovation from the fans.

It was the last positive moment for the Tigers in Sunday's series finale.

Skubal struggles in final inning

The Tigers gifted Skubal with a four-run cushion early, and he appeared likely to make the most of it.

He faced the minimum 12 batters, erasing a second-inning single with a double play, before falling apart in the fifth inning. A one-out triple from Garcia broke Skubal's rhythm and seemed to rattle him.

Skubal forgot to cover first base on Yuli Gurriel's ground ball to first baseman Spencer Torkelson, which allowed Garcia to score for the Marlins' first run. He tried to make up for the mistake but didn't get to the bag in time.

Suddenly, Skubal struggled to locate his pitches.

Three straight Marlins crushed pitches left near the middle of the strike zone: Jean Segura (single off middle-up changeup), Nick Fortes (double off middle-down fastball) and Garrett Hampson (double off middle-middle slider).

The double from Hampson drove in Segura and Fortes to even the score. Skubal did manage to get NL batting leader Luis Arraez to ground out before exiting his fifth start with two outs in the fifth inning.

White, who replaced Skubal, sent down Bryan De La Cruz to end the inning and strand Hampson at third base.

Hot start vs. Luzardo

Luzardo needed 47 pitches to get through two innings.

The Tigers finally put runs on the board in the in the third, which began with Matt Vierling's eight-pitch walk. An ensuing ground-rule double from Andy Ibáñez put runners on the corners.

The Tigers then built their 4-0 lead on Spencer Torkelson's RBI single, Báez's RBI single and Cabrera's two-RBI double to the left-field corner. Cabrera hit a second-pitch slider from Luzardo for the 619th double of his 21-year MLB career.

Arraez, the Marlins' second baseman, took away two runs from the Tigers with his defense in the third and fifth innings. He threw out Ibáñez at home plate in the third and Riley Greene at home plate in the fifth.

He also took a single away from Báez with a diving stop in the fifth.

Contact Evan Petzold at epetzold@freepress.com or follow him on Twitter @EvanPetzold.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Detroit Tigers fall to Miami Marlins, 8-6