DETROIT (AP) -- Deivi Cruz drove in the winning run, yet this game belonged to Detroit reliever Doug Brocail.

Cruz stroked an RBI single in the ninth inning to lift the Tigers to a 4-3 victory over the Toronto Blue Jays on Saturday.

	Brocail

The night before, in another tight ballgame, Brocail had given up five runs and three hits in the seventh -- one of them Darrin Fletcher's grand slam -- and the Blue Jays won 8-2.

"I always want to come back the next night after a game like that," said Brocail, one of the leaders in the Detroit clubhouse. "I was pretty sure I'd get the chance. When the call came in the bullpen, I knew it was for me."

Toronto had tied the game at 3 and had runners at first and third when Brocail relieved starter Hideo Nomo in the eighth. Brocail struck out Brad Fullmer and got Tony Batista on a grounder to end the threat, then pitched a perfect ninth.

"Doug had a tough night last night, but he came back today and showed the type of competitor he is," said Dean Palmer, who hit a two-run homer for Detroit. "He plays with a lot of passion. He has a lot of fire. That's his personality."

Paul Quantrill (0-2) walked Brad Ausmus to start the Tigers' ninth. Ausmus moved up on a sacrifice bunt by Jose Macias, setting the stage for Cruz, who hit a looping liner to right field. Ausmus hesitated a moment to make sure it would fall in, taking off just before the ball hit the ground.

Ausmus made a hard turn at third and headed for home, beating a relay from Raul Mondesi to first baseman Carlos Delgado to catcher Fletcher.

"I had to make sure I wouldn't get doubled up," Ausmus said. "But after I took off, I never thought I wouldn't score."

An RBI single by Delgado drove in Craig Grebeck, who had singled, to tie it at 3 in the Toronto eighth.

Pete Munro walked Bobby Higginson to start the Detroit second and Palmer followed with his eighth homer over the left-field wall for a 2-0 lead.

"I threw him a sinker, in, and he hit it," Munro said. "That's what he gets paid to do. I battled, you know? I just didn't have my good stuff today."

The Blue Jays tied it at 2 with two outs in the fifth on Shannon Stewart's bases-loaded single.

Detroit loaded the bases with no outs in the fifth, but settled for just one run on Rich Becker's RBI grounder that might have been a double play if second baseman Grebeck hadn't bobbled the ball momentarily before getting the force at second.

Still, the next batter -- Gregg Jefferies -- did ground into a double play, ending the inning.

Toronto had a runner on third with one out in the seventh, but Jefferies threw Batista out at the plate on a grounder to first, and Nomo got Alex Gonzalez on a fly to left to end the threat.

Nomo allowed three runs and seven hits with five walks and eight strikeouts in 7 1/3 innings.

"I wish I could throw out the eighth inning," Nomo said through an interpreter. "But, Brocail did a good job and I'm very happy at the way the game turned out."

Munro, making his second start for Toronto, gave up three runs and six hits in six innings.

"We had men on third three times and didn't pick up runs," Blue Jays manager Jim Fregosi said. "That always comes back to haunt you."

Game notes
The Blue Jays failed to homer for just the 12th time in 51 games. ... Stewart extended his hitting streak to 11 games. Nomo, thanks to two double plays and a caught-stealing, faced just three batters in each of the first three innings ... Shane Halter replaced Juan Gonzalez in right field for Detroit to start the eighth. Gonzalez was reported to have a strained left foot.