Miami's Stanton Hits First Spring Home Run
JUPITER (AP) — Giancarlo Stanton hit his first home run of spring training for Miami and the Marlins lost to the Tigers 3-1 on Sunday.
Alex Avila has a two-out, two-run double in the eighth for the Tigers.
Stanton homered on the first pitch he saw in the bottom of the fourth, a shot that landed on the second-floor balcony of the Marlins executive office in left field.
Tyler Collins evened the score for the Tigers to 1-1 when he hit a one-out home run to right in the seventh.
STARTING TIME
Tigers: Rick Porcello had his third start of the spring and pitched for 3 1-3 innings. He allowed Stanton's home run, four hits and one earned run. Following Stanton's home run, Garrett Jones struck out and Jarrod Saltalamacchia singled to right field to end Porcello's day.
Marlins: Tom Koehler made his second start and pitched four scoreless innings. He allowed a single to Miguel Cabrera in the first.
"He's one of those guys that you almost feel is one step ahead of you so you have to make sure you're executing all of your pitches," Koehler said. If you make a mistake you know that mistake can become a souvenir."
TRAINER'S ROOM
Tigers: Starting shortstop Jose Iglesias remains sidelined with shins soreness. His only appearance was against the Braves on Feb. 27.
"We're going to hit that point in spring training where there won't be enough games for him to get at bats to be ready for the season," manager Brad Ausmus said about Iglesias.
MARLINS OPENING DAY
Jose Fernandez will be the youngest opening day starting pitcher in Marlins history when he faces the Rockies at Marlins Park on March 31. Fernandez will be 21 years, 243-days old when he takes the mound.
PICKED FOR PANAMA
The Marlins released their roster for their "Legend Series" trip to face the Yankees in Panama City, March 15-16. Manager Mike Redmond said Brad Hand will pitch the first game and Nathan Eovaldi the Sunday game in Panama.
Many players, such as Giancarlo Stanton and A.J. Ramos, volunteered to make the trip.
"I had some guys who really wanted to go," Redmond said. "We tried to split it up as much as we could because we have three games to cover here, too."
The team will have a Saturday morning sightseeing trip to the Panama Canal.
Among the others are: closer Steve Cishek, infielders Derek Dietrich and Adeiny Hechavarria and outfielders Jake Marisnick and Christian Yelich.