DETROIT -- Detroit Tigers manager Jim Leyland has blamed Doug Fister’s

caused from a lack of playing time.

Apparently, Fister finally found where the

had been hiding.

Coming off back-to-back poor starts, Fister turned in an impressive outing Saturday afternoon, working six polished innings en route to a 8-7 win over the Kansas City Royals.

"The more he pitches, the sharper he’ll get," Leyland said. "This was some pretty good tonic for us to see him pitch like he did. We needed that. He needed that."

Delmon Young and Prince Fielder each hit two-run home runs to push the Tigers over the .500 mark for the first time since May 10.

The win gave Detroit its fourth straight win, matching its longest streak this season and keeping the club within 4 ½ games of the AL Central-leading White Sox.

"It’s something that you can kind of smile about, but at the same time, it’s just a number," Tigers outfielder Austin Jackson said. "You’ve got to look at the division, and where you stand in the division.

"It doesn’t matter if you’re 10 games over .500, if you’re not leading your division, it really doesn’t matter."

Young's two-run homer in the seventh was his third in as many games and proved to be much needed as the Royals nearly threatened to pull off a four-run rally in the ninth.

"Delmon has been a run producer and that’s what we expect out of him," Leyland said. "He’s not going to hit a home run every day, but he’s an RBI guy and that’s what we need behind the two big guys."

Tigers closer Jose Valverde entered the ninth in a non-save situation and promptly walked his first batter, Alex Gordon, on four straight pitches before giving up a double and another walk to load the bases with no outs for Billy Butler.

"You always know it's a bad sign and a tough inning when you walk the first batter on four pitches," Leyland said. "It doesn't matter what the score is -- you're going to have a tough inning."

Butler's two-run single cut the Tigers' lead to two runs and Yuniesky Betancourt nearly missed a go-ahead, three-run homer that Jackson tracked down at the warning track.

"That’s what I take pride in, trying to finish the game out like that, keeping them from scoring," Jackson said. "It’s tough. You want to do your best to try to catch it, to make sure you don’t let it kick off to the side."

Jackson came through again, making a shoe-string catch on Mike Moustakas shallow fly, which drove in Eric Hosmer to make it one-run game. With the go-ahead run at the plate, Valverde then struck out Jeff Francoeur to escape the jam.

"I thought the worst-case scenario was that it gets up the gap, and it might get out, but Austin Jackson is just a phenomenal center fielder, and he ran it down," Royals manager Ned Yost said. "I didn't think he was going to get Moose's ball -- I didn't think it was hit hard enough -- but he got that one as well.

"There aren't many places in the park where he isn't going to get to the ball."

It looked like Fister was on the verge of a third straight meltdown, giving up base hits to four of the first six batters he faced as the Royals built an early 2-0 lead in the first.

The troubles followed the 28-year-old in the second when he loaded the bases with two outs, but Fister escaped run-free after inducing an inning-ending groundout.

"We all know he's a quality pitcher, it's just a matter of getting his stuff," Leyland said. "I think he's been fighting his command and fighting to get his ball down."

From then on, it was smooth sailing for the right-hander, who gave up only two more base hits, including a solo homer to Moustakas, to his next 16 batters faced.

"He did it pretty good today at times, but when he gets pitching inside better," Leyland said, "that's when he's really tough."

It was the deepest Fister has pitched in his last three starts, matching his first start off the disabled list June 22 when he allowed four runs -- two earned -- in six innings.

"There are things that I have to do, and I know what I have to do," Fister said. "There were some times today where I missed some locations, and they made me pay for it. But all-in-all, again, it’s a step in the right direction."

With the Home Run Derby less than two days away, Fielder sent his second homer in three games into the right-field bleachers to tie the game at 2-all in the first.

"That picks you up on a hot day," Leyland said. "That's a couple huge homers he's hit in the last few days."

Gerald Laird broke the 2-all tie the following frame when his one-out double off left-hander Bruce Chen to the right-field gap scored Jhonny Peralta.

The double snapped Laird’s string of 15 hitless at-bats against southpaws.

"You have to be patient with him," said Leyland about Chen. "He’s going to throw from different angles, he’s not going to overpower you, but he’ll use his fastball effectively. He got a couple up that we hurt him with today, so we finally got him."

Ramon Santiago also scored on Jarrod Dyson throwing error giving the Tigers a 3-2 lead that they would add on after Laird scored on Jackson’s RBI single.

The base hit extended Jackson’s hitting streak to 14 -- extending a career high.

"I’m just trying to put the ball in play, and get on base," Jackson said. "if I can do that, get myself in scoring position, the guys behind me are capable of getting me in."

Fister entered the seventh inning with 89 pitches under his belt, but exited five pitches later after a leadoff walk to Alcides Escobar. He finished with six-plus under his belt, allowing four runs on eight hits and three walks. He struck out two.

It was the fourth start for Fister since being activated from the 15-day disabled list with a left side strain that had sidelined him for most the season.

It’s a strain that he initially aggravated during his first start of the season against the Boston Red Sox on April 7. He returned a month later and made five starts before he required another stint on the disabled list with the same left side strain.

"It takes time to build you arm strength up," Leyland said. "He missed a lot of time -- he's still not too far into the season. He'll get sharper as it goes on."

Notes: Santiago had two doubles, while Laird and Jackson had three hits apiece ... Miguel Cabrera's first-inning strikeout was first time he was caught looking at called third strike since May 22. He had made 168 straight at-bats ... The Tigers have now won 16 of their last 22 games against the Royals dating back to May 13, 2011.

-- Follow James Schmehl on Twitter: @jamesschmehl.