The acclaimed right-handed reliever pitched three scoreless, hitless innings for Triple-A Toledo in Tuesday's 5-3 loss to Columbus at Fifth Third Field. A free agent pickup last fall, Cruceta saw his first official action in the Tigers organization.

Cruceta struck out six of the 11 batters he faced. He showed great command, as 27 of his 39 pitches went for strikes. He did walk one and hit a batter in his last inning, but escaped the jam.

His two-seam fastball ranged from 91-95 mph with nice sinking movement, while he mixed in a slider and a devastating splitter, which he used as an out pitch.

"I feel good. I've been working hard, and I'm ready," Cruceta said. "I'm ready right now."

The Mud Hens had orders to keep Cruceta on a count of 40-45 pitches. They will not use him in Wednesday's game.

Signed via free agency last fall to strengthen Detroit's bullpen, Cruceta missed Spring Training because of visa troubles in the Dominican Republic. His United States visa application finally received approval two weeks ago. He immediately reported to extended Spring Training in Lakeland, Fla., where he had impressive outings and earned the right to pitch in Toledo.

The Tigers placed Cruceta on Major League Baseball's restricted list when the regular season started, meaning they now have two weeks to decide whether to add him to the 25-man roster, trade him or see if he can pass through waivers and stay in the Minors.

But that verdict could prove an easy one if Cruceta keeps performing like he did on Tuesday.

He entered in the sixth inning with the score tied at 3. He used first-pitch fastballs on all three hitters to set up his splitter, which he used to strike out the side on 10 pitches.

In his second inning, he coaxed a weak grounder to first, earned a strikeout with a nasty slider and enticed a soft grounder to short.

His third inning had more adversity. A walk, hit-by-pitch and groundout put runners on second and third with two outs. But another strikeout kept Columbus off the scoreboard.

"That was pretty quality," Mud Hens manager Larry Parrish said of Cruceta's debut. "He was really sharp early. He had this [splitter] that was breaking hard, but it was almost like it was breaking like a hard slider."

Parrish said he only saw one negative: Cruceta, at times, tipped his pitches.

Not that it mattered.

"There were a couple [pitches] there where he could tell you what was coming, and you couldn't hit it," he said.

His catcher on Tuesday, Dane Sardinha, had the best look of all. Afterwards, he just shook his head and struggled to find adjectives for the debut.

"It speaks for itself," he said. "I mean, they were hitting good against us until he came into the game."

In Detroit, with Denny Bautista taking care of late-inning duties and Todd Jones closing, Cruceta could be looked upon to help fill the setup role usually handled by fireballer Joel Zumaya, who is shelved until at least mid-season after offseason shoulder surgery. Detroit's other setup man, Fernando Rodney, is sidelined with shoulder tendinitis and has an unsure timetable for his return. Meanwhile, none of the other Tiger relievers have locked down the late-inning roles.

So, in other words, a window of opportunity for Cruceta appears wide open. Now it's up to him to take advantage, and Tuesday was a good start.

"I want to keep my pitches down and compete," Cruceta said. "I have confidence in myself."

Of all their offseason moves, only Cruceta came via free agency. The Tigers beat out several other teams, including the Yankees, for his services after seeing him dominate winter ball in the Dominican Republic. He went 1-1 with a 1.08 ERA, held opponents to a .193 batting average and struck out 31 batters in 23 1/3 innings.

Assuming the Tigers call him up in the next two weeks, it would mark Cruceta's first trip to the Majors since making three appearances for the Mariners in 2006. He also pitched for Cleveland in 2004.