Dominguez adds to spring RBI total

Matt Dominguez has yet to make his Major League debut, but he's had no trouble showing off his skills against big league pitching this spring.

The former first-round pick drove in four runs thanks to his second homer of the spring as the Marlins beat the Tigers, 9-5, in a Spring Training exhibition game on Tuesday in Lakeland, Fla. The 21-year-old infielder, who has not played above the Double-A level in four professional seasons, leads all Spring Training batters with 10 RBIs.

Marlins starter Elih Villanueva, Florida's reigning Minor League Pitcher of the Year, took advantage of his first spring start to toss three scoreless innings on two hits and two walks. He struck out two.

The right-hander went 14-4 with a 2.26 ERA in 28 starts at Double-A Jacksonville last year as a midseason and postseason Southern League All-Star selection.

Dominguez, the 2010 Southern League All-Star Game's Top Star, went 2-for-2 with an RBI single in the first and a three-run home run in the third off Detroit starter Max Scherzer. He walked with one out in the fifth, ending his day when Ruben Gotay came in to run.

"I was just trying to throw offspeed [pitches] early in the count, wasn't able to do it," Scherzer told MLB.com. "Fell into hitters' counts and they made me pay for it."

Dominguez, a Chatsworth, Calif., native is batting .400 with 10 RBIs in 15 at-bats this spring.

Dominguez hit .252 with 14 homers and 81 RBIs in 138 games for Jacksonville last season. He was a 2009 Arizona Fall League Rising Star, a year after hitting .296 with 18 homers and 70 RBIs in 88 games at Class A Greensboro.

Former Tigers prospect Burke Badenhop, the last Marlin remaining from the Miguel Cabrera trade in 2007, struck out four over two perfect innings.