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  Monday, Jun. 12 7:05pm ET
Castillo, Fullmer lead Blue Jays victory
 
  RECAP | BOX SCORE | GAME LOG

DETROIT (AP) -- Frank Castillo, staked to some rare early runs, made sure they weren't wasted.

Castillo pitched seven strong innings and Brad Fullmer homered as the Toronto Blue Jays beat the Detroit Tigers 4-2 Monday night.

The Blue Jays scored just one run in each of Castillo's previous three decisions, all losses. And he hurt himself with a career-high seven walks in a start in Atlanta on June 6.

But this time, the Blue Jays took an early 4-0 lead.

"It was nice to get an early lead tonight," said Castillo (2-5) who allowed two runs on five hits in his first win since May 2. "When it's 0-0, you have to be careful on every pitch. Sometimes, you get too fine in those situations and that can lead to walks."

Not this time. Castillo walked none and struck out four.

"Tonight, I just wanted to make sure I didn't walk anybody," Castillo said. "My last time pitching on the sidelines, I just concentrated on keeping my left shoulder in."

Paul Quantrill started the eighth for the Blue Jays, and was followed by Pedro Borbon and Billy Koch. Koch got four outs for his 13th save in 17 chances.

Hideo Nomo (2-6), who lost his third straight start, gave up four runs on seven hits with eight strikeouts and one walk in 7 2/3 innings. Detroit scored just three runs in Nomo's two previous starts -- a 2-0 loss to the Chicago Cubs and a 4-3 loss at Pittsburgh.

"We didn't really beat Nomo up," Toronto manager Jim Fregosi said. "We had a ball that Bobby Higginson almost caught. We had another that hit the bag. It wasn't like we knocked the heck out of him."

Higginson hit a two-run homer for the Tigers.

Alex Gonzalez, who made a dazzling defensive play in the second, started Toronto's three-run third with a looping double to left that Higginson just missed with a diving attempt. Nomo walked Alberto Castillo, then threw a wild pitch allowing both runners to move up.

Shannon Stewart snapped out of an 0-for-10 slump with a two-run double in the gap in right-center. Tony Batista's RBI grounder, which glanced off the bag at third, scored Stewart for a 3-0 lead.

Fullmer, 2-for-4, led off the fourth with his eighth homer and first since May 13.

"It's just nice to contribute a little bit," said Fullmer, a designated hitter used mostly against right-handers, who didn't play much during Toronto's interleague games at Florida and Atlanta. "I haven't been able to get in there much, lately."

Deivi Cruz doubled to lead off the sixth and scored on Higginson's two-out homer, his seventh, cutting the lead to 4-2.

Game notes
Juan Gonzalez hit his 300th career double leading off the Detroit second. ... Alex Gonzalez made a spectacular play at shortstop to prevent a run in the second. With two outs and a runner on third, he went deep in the hole to his right to snare a grounder, then leaped and threw in one motion to nip Juan Encarnacion at first. ... Toronto OF Raul Mondesi was scratched shortly before the game because he chipped a tooth eating some food in the clubhouse. Mondesi got the tooth capped and returned to pinch hit in the ninth. He grounded out. ... The Blue Jays have homered in 12 straight games, matching a season-high.
 


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