LAKELAND, Fla. -- Tigers relief hopeful Fu-Te Ni received a nice little traveling gift Wednesday. Before he leaves Thursday to join the Chinese Taipei team in preparation for the World Baseball Classic, he picked up a win in his first appearance in an American uniform.

Ni entered Detroit's Spring Training opener Wednesday with a tie in the eighth inning. He quickly retired the side in order on five pitches before Ramon Santiago's RBI single in the bottom of the inning pulled the Tigers ahead for good.

"I was tickled for him," manager Jim Leyland said.

Ni, for his part, didn't make too much of it. However, he indicated through his interpreter, the experience should help him adjust quickly when he returns from the Classic.

Ni noted the size of the crowd at Joker Marchant Stadium, announced at 6,086, bigger than the attendance he would see at an average game in the Chinese Professional Baseball League in his native Taiwan.

"Compared with Taiwan, there are very many baseball fans here," his interpreter said.

That did not, he said, make his nervous.

"No," his interpreter said. "He just concentrated on the game."

Ni, a non-roster invitee to Tigers camp, is trying to become the first player to go from the CPBL straight to the Majors, though the success of other relievers in camp makes his odds seemingly longer. He signed with the Tigers over the offseason with the understanding that he would take part in the Classic, where he's expected to be a key pitcher for Chinese Taipei.

Their stay in the Classic, however, is not expected to last past the opening round, barring an upset. They're part of Pool A along with Japan, which won the inaugural World Baseball Classic in 2006, and Korea, which won the gold medal at last year's Olympics. Play in that pool, which takes place at the Tokyo Dome, begins March 5 and runs through March 9.