TORONTO -- No, Daniel Norris wasn’t in fastball-pumping mode when he took the mound on Saturday at Rogers Center for a long relief appearance against the Blue Jays.

That made his 93-mph fastball arguably more encouraging than the 94-mph heaters he threw in his Spring Training finale against the same team last Sunday, when he decided to throw as hard as he could.

Unlike last Sunday, the Blue Jays didn’t send those fastballs back for much damage. Norris gave up two hits, including a Freddy Galvis double, and two walks, but no runs over 2 1/3 innings, keeping Detroit’s deficit at 3-0 with help from a rundown at home plate. He threw 22 of 36 pitches for strikes in relief of Spencer Turnbull, who won the open rotation spot over Norris at the end of camp.

“He started off a little wild, misfiring, but [it was his] first time out there,” Tigers manager Ron Gardenhire said of Norris. “He'll be fine. You can see his stuff. He's got a good breaking ball. He's got a good fastball. If he just remains in control, he'll be fine.”

It’s a reprisal of Norris’ role to begin last season, but with a few differences. For one thing, the Tigers are unlikely to need him as an extra starter early on, between four games under the roof in Toronto, and three more in New York. The weather forecast is iffy for Detroit’s home opener Thursday, but with an off-day built in for Friday, the Tigers shouldn’t be stuck with a doubleheader.

Beyond that, Gardenhire said he isn’t afraid to use Norris in shorter, later circumstances.

“He’s not just a long guy,” Gardenhire said. “If he goes without pitching, and our starters are getting six and seven innings every time, we’re not afraid to stick him out there to get a lefty out. He can come in and get a lefty out. The one thing you have to worry about with him is making sure he doesn’t do something silly trying to get loose real quick.”

Norris’ warmup routine is longer than many relievers because he’s so used to starting, and because he has to do extra stretching to keep his core area loose. Norris does his best to shorten the routine by stretching and doing yoga shortly after the game starts, but it’s still easier for Gardenhire to bring him in to start an inning than to warm him up quickly for a specific left-handed hitter in a jam.

Still, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see Norris enter a game for a lefty-lefty matchup during the upcoming series against the Yankees, who have left-handed hitters Brett Gardner and Greg Bird.

What happens with Norris after that series remains to be seen. The Tigers return home after that three-game set to face a much different Royals roster, but Detroit could have reliever Drew VerHagen ready to return from the injured list. He’s eligible to be activated on Thursday, since the Tigers backdated his assignment.

Gardenhire has left open the possibility Norris could head to Triple-A Toledo to stretch out as an insurance starter if the Tigers need more starting help.

“We have a little bit of depth down there,” Gardenhire said earlier this week. “[Ryan] Carpenter threw the ball very, very well in Spring Training, so he’s going to be stretched out. Funky Man [Kyle Funkhouser] is down there. You need some depth at Triple-A. Norris could definitely be one of those guys, too. We have talked about that, but right now it’s more important to have him with us. I think this works better for him right now.”

Ross not fazed by Yankee Stadium
Tyson Ross’ lone appearance at Yankee Stadium was an emergency relief role seven years ago. He took a hard-luck loss not on a cheap home run, but on a ground ball.

Ross went from starter to September reliever with Oakland in 2012, when the A’s called on him in the 14th inning that Sept. 22. After a couple singles and a couple groundouts, Ross took the loss with an unearned run when first baseman Brandon Moss made an error on an Eduardo Nunez grounder to the right side.

As Ross readies for his first outing there since, now as a veteran starter making his Tigers debut in Monday’s series opener, he isn’t sweating the ballpark or the lineup.

“There’s no easy days out here in the big leagues,” Ross said. “Whatever team it is you’re facing, it’s professional hitters. It’s a good squad, and I’m looking forward to going out there and attacking those guys tomorrow night.”

Waterworks
The sight of water leaking from the Rogers Centre roof and onto deep right-center field was an odd one as Saturday’s game unfolded, but center fielder Mikie Mahtook said it wasn’t a big deal for him.

“It wasn’t like it was raining,” Mahtook said. “You just saw a couple drops every now and then, but it wasn’t like anything crazy.”

It was more noticeable for the relievers in the Tigers' bullpen, which is stationed behind the right-field fence. Lefty Daniel Stumpf got the worst of it, according to Norris. Blaine Hardy said he was trying to get raindrops in his mouth on a dare.