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Towers outduels Robertson to lift Tigers

Apr 15, 2007 - 9:02 PM TORONTO (Ticker) -- Josh Towers stood tall. Towers worked into the eighth inning to outduel Nate Robertson as the Toronto Blue Jays gained a split of a four-game series against the Detroit Tigers with a 2-1 victory.

It was a nightmarish 2006 campaign for Towers, who spent a majority of the season in the minors after going 2-10 with an abysmal 8.42 ERA in 15 appearances with 12 starts.

Through two starts this season, Towers again is resembling the pitcher that won a career-high 13 games in 2005.

Towers (1-1) limited the Tigers to just an unearned run and three hits in 7 2/3 innings, walking one and striking out four as he lowered his ERA to 2.02.

"It's a big relief. I haven't done much around here to be getting cheered for lately," Towers said. "The fans had every reason (to boo) me today. I forgot the outs, threw a ball into center field, but I noticed the mood changing in the fifth and sixth innings. When I got off the field and I saw them standing up and cheering I actually felt pretty good."

"(Towers) was outstanding," Blue Jays manager John Gibbons said. "He really needed that for himself. That's the kind of thing he needs to get him going. I'm proud of the guy."

After Scott Downs got the final out of the eighth, Gibbons used Shawn Marcum in the closer's role in place of All-Star B.J. Ryan, who landed on the 15-day disabled list earlier Sunday with an elbow injury.

Marcum struck out one in a perfect inning en route to his first save in 31 career appearances.

"My heart was beating 1,000 miles an hour," Marcum said. "I had a lot of adrenaline going. I was real excited. I couldn't locate my fastball for anything, I was so fired up. I got away with a few pitches, ended up getting the save and we won."

Robertson (2-1) was effective for the third straight start, allowing two runs and seven hits in seven innings. The lefthander, who walked two and struck out five, was not bothered by the lack of run support.

"That happens, that's baseball," Robertson said. "You just have to do your job. You can't worry about anybody else. The hitters believe they are going to put some runs on the board. We all believe that. When you look at the lineup it's pretty nice."

Detroit completed a 6-4 road trip.

"If somebody had told me before the game that we'd only give up two runs, I'd have said, 'Then I'll take my chances that we win the game,'" Tigers manager Jim Leyland said. "We had a chance to go for the throat and we didn't."

Robertson and Towers were locked in 1-1 game when the Blue Jays broke through in the seventh to take the lead.

Royce Clayton led off with a double. He came home one out later, running through a stop sign by third base coach Brian Butterfield and scoring on John MacDonald's single.

"I read it pretty well," Clayton said. "It wasn't hit extremely hard. It was in the air for a minute and I got a good jump. I knew it was going to fall in. By the time I got to (Butterfield) it was too late - I had pretty much made up my mind. I'm just glad it worked out."

An errant thrown on a pickoff attempt by Towers allowed the Tigers to grab a 1-0 lead in the first. Towers also had a mental gaffe in the second inning.

With a runner on first and one out, Craig Monroe hit a hard grounder back to Towers, who seemed to forget how many outs there were as he threw to first. He then struck out Brandon Inge to end the inning, retiring 12 straight batters before hitting Placido Polanco with a pitch with one out in the sixth.

Adam Lind's run-scoring single in the second tied the game at 1-1.