DETROIT -- The Tigers took out some pent-up frustration Saturday, and it had nothing to do with manager Ron Gardenhire’s seventh ejection of the season -- a Tigers single-season record, according to research on Baseball-Reference.

OK, maybe it had a little to do with that.

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“I'm pretty sure he's on a record pace,” reliever Blaine Hardy said after Saturday’s 7-5 win over the Nationals at Comerica Park, “but he's keeping us in it. He's keeping us excited to go out there every single day. We know he's fighting for us, and we know he has our best interests in mind. And when we see him go out there and draw a line in the dirt, it excites us.”

In fairness, the Tigers were already excited after JaCoby Jones’ highlight-reel catch in the third inning. But for them to rally late for a win was a different feeling.

The last time Niko Goodrum stepped to the plate with runners in scoring position, he walked back to the dugout with an inning-ending strikeout Friday and took a swing at the bat rack. As he trotted to first base with the go-ahead RBI single in the seventh inning Saturday, the difference was evident.

So was the emotion as Joe Jiménez struck out Brian Dozier to strand the tying run on second base in the eighth inning. Or when Jones doubled home Harold Castro for an insurance run in the bottom of the inning.

“Obviously we come every day to win. We don't come and say we're going to try,” Jimenez said. “Every guy in this clubhouse tries to give their best. That's what we've been doing. It's hard that we are in this position, but we got the W finally.”

On a day when the franchise celebrated the 30th anniversary of its 1984 World Series championship club, a team that won 35 of 40 games to begin the season, Saturday’s win felt almost secondary. But by ending an eight-game losing streak with just their third victory in their past 24 home games, these Tigers received a badly needed dose of positive reinforcement.

After battling into the late innings so many times but struggling to score runs, the Tigers rallied for four runs off the Nationals' bullpen, which is more than they’d scored against anybody in their past three games combined, and more than they’d scored in a single game since June 21. Their seven runs total was their most in a home game since June 9.

“It's funny,” Hardy said, “because our fight level has been the same. It's just that it actually panned out today.”

A three-run fourth inning off spot starter Gregory Soto, pitching on short rest, put the Tigers down early despite highlight catches from Jones in left-center and Nicholas Castellanos in right. Gardenhire, arguing for Soto to get a call on the outside corner, was quickly tossed by home-plate umpire Mark Ripperger.

“I really, really appreciate that,” Soto said through translator Carlos Guillen. “That pitch, if it was a strike, I would have been able to come out of four innings with just one run. Instead, it's 3.2 innings and three runs. That was a huge pitch, and I really appreciate Gardy for doing that."

Usually, Gardenhire’s ejections this year have involved his hitters and trying to prevent them from being tossed. This one was a turn of events, but with a similar mindset.

“He has a history of that,” said bench coach Steve Liddle, who stepped back into the managerial seat when Gardenhire left. “You look up a player's manager in the dictionary, it's his picture there. It's just how he is, and that's just what's going to happen. He's going to fight and fight, and I think the players respond to that.”

Three singles, three RBIs and two runs from Miguel Cabrera led them back.

“Gardy talked to the guys after last night's game about playing all nine [innings],” Liddle said. “We got down, we made a couple of mistakes out in the field and guys picked each other up. We had some base on balls that led to some guys getting some clutch hits.”

Hours after the Tigers watched former Nationals reliever Trevor Rosenthal throw in their bullpen and signed him to a Minor League contract, the Tigers rallied off Washington’s current relief corps. Cabrera’s fifth-inning single, an opposite-field line drive into short right field, brought in two runs to tie the score at 3. After the Nationals pulled back in front two innings later, Cabrera followed back-to-back walks issued by Tanner Rainey (1-3) with a bouncer over third baseman Anthony Rendon’s head for a run before Christin Stewart’s ensuing sacrifice fly tied it.

Tony Sipp nearly maneuvered Washington out of the jam from there, but Goodrum slapped a two-out liner back up the middle to score Cabrera. Jimenez held it in the eighth ahead of Shane Greene’s 22nd save.

“That's making a key pitch,” Liddle said of Jimenez. “That's elevating your game. For him to elevate his game and make that pitch, that's what guys have to do, and that's what takes you to the next level.”