TORONTO -- Armando Galarraga didn't have the same control he possessed during his Major League debut, but on Monday afternoon, it didn't matter, because he was still able to pitch himself out of trouble whenever the opportunity presented itself.

The right-hander helped the Tigers end a two-game losing streak by tossing 5 1/3 scoreless innings against the Blue Jays en route to a 5-1 victory at Rogers Centre.

"He got himself behind in the count pretty much the whole day, but he's good enough to get out of the innings," catcher Ivan Rodriguez said. "He did what [manager] Jim Leyland wanted, which was give us some innings, and the bullpen did the rest."

After retiring the first seven batters he faced, Galarraga's lack of control caused some issues. In the third inning, he allowed two walks and a single to load the bases, but he was able to get Toronto second baseman Aaron Hill to ground out to shortstop Edgar Renteria to end the frame.

One inning later, it was more of the same. With one out, Galarraga surrendered back-to-back singles and a walk to load the bases for the second consecutive frame.

Once again, though, the 26-year-old showed remarkable poise for his age by remaining cool and collected on the mound. Galaragga struck out Jays catcher Gregg Zaun and followed that by forcing right fielder Joe Inglett to ground out to first base and end the threat without allowing a run.

"I was trying to be more aggressive when I had guys on base," said Galarraga, who threw 46 of his 85 pitches for strikes. "But when they got the bases loaded a couple of times, I tried to remain calm and be more patient."

Galarraga, who is filling in for injured left-hander Dontrelle Willis, has now won both of his starts this season and possesses a sparkling 1.50 ERA over 12 innings of work.

He was acquired during an offseason deal with the Rangers, and when asked after the game if he had anything to say to his former team, Galarraga paused for a couple of seconds and then smiled.

"That they made a mistake," he coyly said.

Four Tigers relievers came on in relief of Galarraga to close out the game. The one blemish came in the bottom of the ninth, when closer Todd Jones surrendered a solo home run to Zaun for Toronto's only run of the game.

While Galarraga controlled things on the mound, the Tigers used a four-run second inning off Jays starter Shaun Marcum (2-1) to propel themselves to victory. Marcum lasted 5 2/3 innings, surrendering five runs on five hits while walking four batters.

Detroit's offense was led by Rodriguez, who had a season-high four hits, including one double and an RBI.

"I think when he gets locked in, concentration-wise, that's when he really hits," Leyland said of his catcher, who has hit safely in only seven of the Tigers' 20 games this season. "When he gets out of whack a little bit he doesn't. ... He was zeroed in today -- he had excellent concentration."

The Tigers' 7-13 record might not be pretty, but over the next week, Detroit can settle in at Comerica Park for a six-game homestand to try to get back on track. The team should receive a boost after receiving word that starting center fielder Curtis Granderson could be back in the lineup by Wednesday. He has missed all 20 games this season because of a fractured middle finger in his right hand, and he's currently on a rehab assignment in the Minors.

Joining Granderson on the mend is second baseman Placido Polanco, who on Monday received good news about his injured back. An MRI on Polanco's back didn't reveal any structural damage, and he could be back in the lineup as soon as Tuesday night.

Leyland conceded that Detroit isn't where it wants to be at this point in the season, which is one reason why splitting two series on the road probably looks worse than it actually is.

"If we were really going good like we thought we would be at this time and went to Cleveland and Toronto and came home [3-3], we'd be pretty happy," Leyland said. "But with our record the way it is, it doesn't look too good."

Considering the Tigers spent the majority of the road trip without the top three hitters in their order, .500 can't be considered a bad thing either.