ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. -- Doug Fister was only perfect for the first 13 outs of the game.

But he was plenty good enough during the rest of his outing.

Fister scattered five hits in seven shutout innings Thursday afternoon to lead the Detroit Tigers to a 2-0 victory against the Tampa Bay Rays.

It was by far the best start Fister has had with the Tigers and likely the best of his 26 starts this season.

"You might see some better stuff," Tigers manager Jim Leyland said, "but you can’t pitch better than he pitched today. In and out, changing speeds, cutting the ball, sinking the ball, riding the ball. You can’t pitch better than that."

The Tigers won three of four games on the road against the Rays, who started the series with a better record than Detroit and have what Tigers manager Jim Leyland believes to be the best starting rotation -- one through five -- in all of baseball.

"This could have been an 0-4 trip," Leyland said. "That’s how good their pitching is. To come out of here with three wins? Very pleased."

The Rays might be talented one through five, but the Tigers proved to be talented one through 12. Or at least 11, as every Tigers pitcher contributed in the series except for starter Rick Porcello, who will be on the mound tonight for the first game of a three-game series at Minnesota.

"We’re on a roll right now and we have a lot of confidence right now in ourselves and in our teammates," Fister said. "That’s kind of where we need to be right now."

Runs were scarce for the Tigers, who scored just 11 runs in the four-game series. But they were even more scarce for the Rays, who scored just six.

Tigers pitchers combined for a 1.47 ERA in the four games. Tigers starters had an ERA of 1.42 in the series, while the relievers combined for a 1.59 ERA.

"That’s what they’re capable of doing," said Austin Jackson, who hit a home run and knocked in both runs for the Tigers. "We’ve got a good pitching staff. When they’re pitching like that, it’s tough to score runs on them."

Fister (6-13) might have turned in the most impressive performance of all. He retired the first 13 batters he faced and scattered one double and four singles in seven innings. Fister struck out five and did not issue a walk.

Fister found himself in one jam when a two-out double in the seventh by Sam Fuld put runners at second and third with two outs. But Fister retired pinch-hitter John Jaso on a fly ball to left field.

A short-handed lineup playing without Miguel Cabrera (paternity list), Brennan Boesch (right thumb) and Alex Avila (rest) managed to scratch out enough runs to get the job done for the Tigers, who finished with just six hits.

Jackson hit the third pitch of the game from Rays starter Jeremy Hellickson over the wall in left field for a 1-0 lead.

The Tigers tacked on a run in the fifth inning to make it 2-0. Ryan Raburn doubled to the corner in left, went to third on a slow roller by Omir Santos and scored on a sacrifice fly by Jackson.

Hellickson (11-9) allowed two runs on six hits and one walk in seven innings. He struck out seven.

But that impressive performance was no match for Fister’s.

"When he gets in the middle, he’ll get whacked," Leyland said. "But when he’s on and throwing the ball where he wants to, he’ll make them mis-hit some balls. That’s what he does.

"He’s good."

Joaquin Benoit allowed a one-out double to Desmond Jennings in the eighth inning, but he then struck out Johnny Damon and Evan Longoria to get out of the inning. Benoit had struck out Reid Brignac to start the inning.

Jose Valverde pitched the ninth inning to earn his 38th save of the season. The Rays had runners at first and third with one out in the ninth when Matt Joyce broke for second with the pitch, then was doubled off at first when Fuld’s line drive to right field was caught by Raburn.

"To be honest, we caught a lucky break," Leyland said. "If that ball’s in the gap, the game’s tied. You know what, it was just our series, to be honest with you. We caught some breaks.

"We played well. Don’t get me wrong. I’m not taking anything away from our team. We played very well. We pitched very well. We did a lot of good things. But on the final play of the game, we caught a break."