DETROIT -- Before Saturday's game against the Toronto Blue Jays, Detroit Tigers manager Brad Ausmus admitted that he had sought to emphasize a point with his pitching staff.

Stop trying to get strikeouts and start focusing on getting outs.

Evidently, the message resonated with Michael Fulmer.

Fulmer delivered a masterful performance, getting ahead of hitters and checking the Blue Jays on two hits over eight innings in the Tigers' 11-1 rout at Comerica Park.

Fulmer posted his fourth straight win to improve to 10-6 for Detroit (40-49).

"It is a lot easier on the defense when you aren't making them stand around for 20 minutes every half-inning," Ausmus said. "He got outs quickly and that has an effect on the entire team.

"The game doesn't get stagnant when he's on the mound."

Opposition hitters do, though.

"He just looked like he was attacking," Blue Jays catcher Russell Martin said of Fulmer. "Just being aggressive, getting strike one as quickly as possible.

"He had good life on the fastball, good movement and a good slider to go with it. He was mixing in some change-ups, too. But I think the key for him was making quality pitches early and just staying aggressive."

Fulmer agreed that the words to the pitching staff from the team's skipper were sound advice, and a formula he prefers to follow when he's on the mound.

"I'm worried about getting outs, and strikeouts mean more pitches," Fulmer said. "There are times when you want to try to strike a guy out, but I'm happy with a weak grounder to short."

It's the third time in his last four starts that Fulmer has worked eight innings, but this one felt extra special to him.

"I felt like I needed a start like this, where I was able to miss a lot of barrels and get a lot of weak contact," Fulmer said. "I'm not a huge strikeout pitcher at this point, but I trust my defense to make plays for me."

The Tigers took advantage of the long ball and the wildness of Toronto starter Francisco Liriano to pile up the runs and quickly gain an advantage.

Liriano didn't retire a batter after walking the bases loaded in the third and left the game, suffering from neck stiffness. He allowed five earned runs and three hits to drop to 5-5.

"His neck tightened up," Toronto manager John Gibbons said. "Muscle spasms. He didn't last long. You could tell it started to affect him. We've seen bouts of wildness with him on occasion, but he really lost it."

Nicholas Castellanos, the second batter Liriano faced, drove a 1-0 offering into the right-field seats to open the scoring for Detroit. The solo shot was the 11th home run of the year for Castellanos.

"I was just happy to put a good swing on a ball and get us off to a quick start," Castellanos said. "When you get that early lead, it puts more pressure on the pitcher."

Detroit kept the pressure building, doubling its advantage in the second inning. Jose Iglesias looped a two-out single into shallow right field, scoring Mikie Mahtook.

After chasing Liriano, J.D. Martinez welcomed reliever Mike Bolsinger by stroking his first pitch into left field for a two-run single.

Mahtook's sacrifice fly brought home Miguel Cabrera to give the Tigers a 5-0 lead over the Blue Jays (42-48).

The Tigers continued to pile up the runs. Iglesias scored on a fielder's choice and Cabrera clouted a two-run homer, his 12th of the year, during a three-run Detroit sixth. Martinez hit his 15th homer of the season, a three-run shot in the eighth inning.

The Blue Jays shattered Fulmer's shutout bid in the fourth when Jose Bautista, who had drawn a leadoff walk, scored on a groundout by Josh Donaldson but after giving Fulmer such a decisive advantage so quickly, Gibbons knew his team was in for a long night.

"He gets a lead like that, the good ones, they're not going to let you get back in," Gibbons said. "When you fall out of it so quick, that's what happens."

NOTES: Tigers LHP Daniel Norris, on the disabled list with a groin strain, will throw another bullpen session Sunday before it is determined whether he will be activated to start Tuesday at Kansas City. ... Detroit 2B Ian Kinsler returned to his usual leadoff spot in the batting order after missing Friday's game because of illness. ... The Tigers held a closed-door meeting before the game, but the players and manager Brad Ausmus declined to talk about what was discussed during the session. ... The Blue Jays are 5-3 in their last eight games but have been outscored 57-36 in that stretch. ... The Los Angeles Angels (.593) are the only American League team to own a greater winning percentage in July the past four seasons than the Blue Jays, who are 48-38 (.558) during the month since 2014. ... Blue Jays OF Devon Travis, recovering from knee surgery, took infield before the game but is still weeks from being activated from the DL.