LAKELAND, Fla. – Torii Hunter hit his first home run with the Detroit Tigers, Justin Verlander allowed one hit in four innings and the Detroit Tigers beat the Toronto Blue Jays 4-1 on Wednesday.
Hunter, who left the Los Angeles Angels as a free agent last winter, homered off Blue Jays reliever Michael Schwimer. The homer raised Hunter's spring batting average to .261.
Verlander lowered his spring ERA to 1.00 in his longest outing of the spring. He walked one and struck out three.
Brandon Morrow started for Toronto and allowed one unearned run in two innings while striking out three. Jim Negrych homered for the Blue Jays on a day when wind played havoc with fly balls. Toronto committed two errors and allowed two more fly balls land for hits that were misplayed in the the windy conditions.
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