Offensive Tigers get past Blue Jays, 8-4

TORONTO -- Manager Jim Leyland said his Detroit Tigers aren’t at full speed yet, but they’re certainly getting there.

Edgar Renteria hit a two-run home run, Kenny Rogers won for the first time since July and the Tigers beat the Blue Jays, 8-4, on Friday night, handing Toronto its sixth consecutive home defeat.

“When we’re rolling, and we haven’t been rolling yet, we figure we can strike any time and strike good,” Leyland said.

Detroit, which started the season 0-7, has won four of five and is averaging 7.8 runs a game over that span.

“They’re tough any way you look at it,” Blue Jays Manager John Gibbons said. “They got off to a slow start, but you knew that wasn’t going to last.”

Rogers (1-3) worked 6 2/3 innings to win for the first time since July 4, when he beat Cleveland, 6-4. He yielded four runs, three hits, walked four and struck out one.

“There’s no doubt about our offense,” Rogers said. “We can score runs. My goal after I messed up in the fifth was to stay out there long enough to be there when we did mount an attack.”

The 43-year-old Rogers was limited to 11 starts last season because of shoulder and elbow problems.

“I felt great today,” he said. “I was really comfortable with what I was trying to do.”