LAKELAND, Fla. -- Although he allowed no runners to reach third base, control issues continued to plague Blue Jays lefty Ryan Borucki Tuesday in a 5-2 win against the Tigers.

In his third Spring Training start, Borucki walked three batters in three innings. He thus maintained his average of one batter walked per inning pitched.

"I don't walk a lot of people very often," Borucki said. "I'm still trying to find my delivery a little bit, but today I definitely felt better than my last two starts."

But Borucki also struck out four, including three straight in the heart of the Tigers' order: Niko Goodrum and Dustin Peterson to end the first inning, and then Brandon Dixon to start the bottom of the second frame. Borucki went on to punch out Peterson a second time in the third inning.

"I was a little bit more controlled with my fastball and stuff," Borucki said, regarding his ability to mix strikes to hitters Tuesday. "I was spotting it pretty well on the inside corner to righties. I'm still trying to get stuff synced up a little bit, but we've made a step in the right direction today."

In the second and third innings, Borucki wriggled out of one-out jams. After Ronny Rodriguez doubled to the right-field corner, Grayson Greiner walked on a full count to threaten Borucki in the second. But Bobby Wilson's popout to shallow center field and Sergio Alcantara's bouncer to third base -- on another full count -- allowed Borucki to escape.

Borucki began the bottom of the third by walking Gordon Beckham, who moved to second base on Goodrum’s one-out smash single that caromed off shortstop Freddy Galvis. The aforementioned second strikeout of Peterson preceded catcher Danny Jansen’s snap throw to first base, where Justin Smoak tagged out the stumbling Goodrum to end the inning and Borucki’s outing. Borucki threw 58 pitches, only 31 for strikes. His ERA dropped from 11.25 to 6.43.

"I'm still working on getting my sink back a little bit more," he said. "It was good to finish three innings today. I was happy with it."

The official signing of fellow starting pitcher Clay Buchholz on Tuesday did not and would not affect Borucki's approach, he said. Buchholz could take a spot in the starting rotation in place of Borucki.

"That's for [the front office] to make a decision," Borucki said. "For me to make the decision as hard as possible is just to keep pitching my game, going out there and keep pitching well."

Manager Charlie Montoyo saw signs of Borucki pitching well, calling this latest start part of the Spring Training process. Along with other young pitchers on the staff, Montoyo stressed Borucki's need to get ahead in counts. On Tuesday, Borucki ended ahead in the count four times, behind in the count six times.

"He was better today, throwing more strikes," Montoyo said. "His changeup wasn't as good. He wasn't throwing it for a strike, but he came back with some good cutters and stuff."

Smoak and Gurriel smack gopher balls

The Blue Jays pulverized a pair of no-doubt home runs to supply the offense in Tuesday's win.

The first left Smoak's bat in a hurry for an early Blue Jays lead. After Billy McKinney and Kevin Pillar walked to start the game, Smoak blasted Matt Moore's 0-1 pitch for a screaming line drive over the left-field fence for a three-run homer, his second of Spring Training.

Not to be outdone, Lourdes Gurriel Jr. also launched his second homer of Spring Training, a solo shot. In the top of the fourth, Gurriel pounded a 1-0 pitch from Louis Coleman out of Publix Field at Joker Marchant Stadium. The ball nearly struck the big screen in left-center field, clacking off the roof of the cabana just below the scoreboard.

"Just like his brother [Astros first baseman Yuli Gurriel], they hit," Montoyo said. "He gained some weight, and that was a bomb."

Up next

On Wednesday, the Blue Jays return to Dunedin to host the Phillies. Right-hander Aaron Sanchez is scheduled to throw the first pitch at 1:07 p.m. ET. Righty Vince Velasquez will start for the Phillies.