Tigers 4, Blue Jays 1
Doug Fister tossed eight strong innings and Jhonny Peralta provided the offense with a pair of home runs as visiting Detroit salvaged the final contest of a three-game series, snapping Toronto's three-game win streak.
Fister (5-7) struck out nine - one shy of his season high - and scattered seven hits for his fourth consecutive quality start, and Jose Valverde struck out two in a perfect ninth for his 20th save.
Brett Cecil (2-4) kept up the solid pitching that helped Toronto claim the first two games of the series, going 6 2/3 innings in his longest outing of the year. He struck out seven and allowed just four hits.
Cecil's only major mistake was a 3-2 breaking ball that Peralta belted into the bullpen beyond the left-field wall for a three-run homer in the second. Peralta added his eighth homer in the ninth against Joel Carreno, driving a 1-2 curveball to left-center.
The Blue Jays' only run came in the first, when Rajai Davis led off the inning with a broken-bat single, stole second and took third on a throwing error before scoring on a Colby Rasmus groundout.
The Tigers moved within 1.5 games of the American League Central-leading Chicago White Sox, who lost at Texas on Sunday night.
GAME NOTEBOOK: The Tigers avoided their first sweep in Toronto since Sept. 5-7, 2003. … Fister has recorded eight or more strikeouts in three of his last four outings and four times in all this season. … Peralta has seven two-homer games in his career, including three with the Tigers. This was his first since Aug. 15, 2010. … Blue Jays 3B Brett Lawrie went 0-for-3 to snap his hit streak at seven games, but SS Yunel Escobar went 1-for-3 to extend his streak to seven games.