Morris Powers Blue Jays : AL East: He earns 21st victory as Toronto clinches at least a tie for the division title by beating Tigers, 8-7.

Last year, while with the Minnesota Twins, Jack Morris pitched Toronto out of the playoffs. Friday night, now with the Blue Jays, he put them on the verge of getting back in.

Morris, leading the majors with 21 victories, again pitched barely well enough to win in helping the Blue Jays hold off Detroit, 8-7, at Toronto to clinch at least a tie for the AL East championship.

“I was the one who got credit for the win, but we won as a team,” Morris said in matching his personal best for victories. “It’s hard to except the fact you’re getting beat around a little bit, but that was the best I had.”

The Blue Jays reduced their magic number to one for their second consecutive division title and fourth in eight years. The second-place Milwaukee Brewers beat the Oakland Athletics, 3-2, in 11 innings to avoid elimination.

More than a half-dozen TV sets in the Toronto locker room were tuned to the Brewers-A’s game, although no one was crowded around them. A few Blue Jays, including Morris and Manager Cito Gaston, planned to stay in the clubhouse to watch the ending.

“This takes some of the pressure off,” Morris said.

“It’s not over yet, but they could only tie, and then they’d have to beat us here.”

If Toronto and Milwaukee finished the weekend even, there would be a one-game playoff Monday at SkyDome.

Roberto Alomar and Candy Maldonado hit two-run homers during the first inning, and Pat Borders connected in the second as Toronto opened a 6-1 lead. But winning big games has never been easy for the Blue Jays, and it wasn’t this time, either, as Detroit closed to 8-7 in the seventh on Mickey Tettleton’s home run.

It wasn’t until Tom Henke got his 34th save by striking out Tettleton with a runner on first in the ninth that another sellout crowd at SkyDome could relax.

Morris (21-6) beat Toronto twice during the playoffs last October and went on to be voted most valuable player of the World Series, helping him earned a two-year, $10.85-million free agent contract with the Blue Jays.

“He obviously didn’t have his good stuff or his good location, but over the course of a season, I’d sure like to have Jack Morris out there,” Gaston said.

Morris gave up six runs, four earned, and nine hits in six innings.