TORONTO - Back from a trip to the minors, Drew Hutchison returned to the mound at Rogers Centre and just won another game for the Toronto Blue Jays.

Hutchison continued his strong pitching of late, tossing seven innings of one-run baseball in the Blue Jays' 15-1 blowout of the Detroit Tigers on Saturday afternoon. Maligned for his struggles this season and propped up by the best run support in the majors, Hutchison shined in his 13th victory of the season.

"I think I've been throwing the ball really well lately, I've been consistent," Hutchison said. "I was able to go out there and make pitches and get in a good rhythm."

With the luxury of some days off, the Blue Jays skipped Hutchison's last turn in the rotation when they were on the road. The 25-year-old has a 9.00 earned-run average in 11 road starts this season.

At home, however, Hutchison improved his ERA to 2.46, fourth-best in the American League, by striking out seven batters Saturday. He said his demotion "is what it is" and he would have liked to start on the road but made the most of his return against the Tigers.

"I was given the ball today, and I was able to show what I could do with it," Hutchison said.

Manager John Gibbons said before the game he expected Hutchison to again prove doubters wrong. He was right.

"He continues his winning ways," Gibbons said. "He was throwing strikes all day. Early on I think he was kind of scattering it in the strike zone. Probably in the middle innings he started dialling up where he starts hitting his corners like we've seen many times when he really gets on a nice little roll."

Hutchison was again pleased with his fastball command and was able to mix in his change-up effectively. For all the success he had against Detroit, the best part of his start was perhaps getting out of the third inning giving up just one run after right-fielder Jose Bautista lost a fly ball in the sun.

Hutchison induced an inning-ending ground ball from three-time American League batting champion, two-time AL MVP and 2012 Triple Crown winner Miguel Cabrera.

"He managed the inning," Gibbons said. "They get one (run) and it was almost a double play anyway. Sometimes those things happen and it can snowball on you."

Nothing snowballed on Hutchison on Saturday as he lowered his overall ERA from 5.06 to 4.86. In the process, the right-hander showed a favourable glimpse of what he can provide the Blue Jays down the stretch as a fifth starter.

"He's still a young guy, he's still figuring it out," Gibbons said. "He's only going to get better. That can take you a long way."

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News from © The Canadian Press, 2015