A second straight terrible start by Tigers left-hander Drew Smyly does not have Brad Ausmus on the verge of removing him from the rotation, MLB.com has reported.
Smyly yielded five earned runs in 5 1/3 innings Friday night in a loss to Tampa Bay. He has given up nine runs in 7 2/3 innings in his last two appearances combined.
An open date Monday would give Ausmus the option of at least skipping his next start, but he declared that each of his starters would simply be given an extra day of rest. Smyly is slated to pitch Thursday against Kansas City.