DETROIT — Danny Salazar was focused during spring training, just on the wrong things. During the past four weeks, he has gotten back on track as the Indians hope that he is finally here for good.

In his second start since being called up from Columbus, the right-hander kept the Tigers in check. He allowed one run on six hits in seven innings while striking out a career-high 11 in the Indians’ 13-1 win at Comerica Park.

Since Salazar’s wake-up call four weeks ago, when the Indians demoted him to Triple-A, he has been pretty dominant. Including the one start in Columbus, Salazar is 3-0 with a 1.42 ERA. He is also the first Indians pitcher since Sam McDowell in 1970 to get double-digit strikeouts in his first two April starts.

"The way Danny throws the ball if he can attain that level of consistency, he’s going to be special. That’s why we stay on him so much," Terry Francona said.

Salazar arrived at spring training on Jan. 11 and throughout appeared to be physically in the best shape of his career. That’s because he was focused more on conditioning than fundamentals. Instead of worrying about pitch mechanics, Salazar was more concerned about being ready to regularly throwing 100 pitches an outing.

For some pitchers, focusing on the next step isn’t a bad thing but for Salazar, who has had plenty of innings where he has struck out the side but allowed a home run in the process, he was trying to get to the next task without accomplishing the first one.

The Indians also weren’t ready to see if Salazar was going to figure it out by just staying in the rotation. They did that at the beginning of last season only to see him go 1-4 with a 5.53 ERA in eight starts before being sent down.

Francona brought up two reasons for Salazar’s demotion– inconsistency and work ethic. It took tough love, but Salazar got the message.

Said Salazar of last month’s demotion: "I put in my mind that I need to work hard. Once you’re up here, you don’t want to go back there again. The way that you need to work to keep yourself here is hard and consistent. That’s what I’m doing now.

"I’m more aggressive now, pitch by pitch, inning by inning until they pull me out of the game. Sometimes in the fifth or sixth inning, you’re getting tired, depending on how many pitches you have, but if you keep battling and throwing hard and giving your best every pitch, you’re going to do a good job."

During spring training, Salazar’s release point was off causing him to leave fastballs and changeups high and over the middle. He also was getting his leg out in front too much which affected the arm rhythm.

In his first two Indians’ starts, Salazar has kept both pitches down along with mixing in a curveball. He also has done a better job of challenging hitters inside. He hit Victor Martinez with a pitch in the first inning, but Martinez was also crowding the plate. During the first series in Cleveland two weeks ago, Indians’ pitchers hardly challenged Tigers’ hitters inside which allowed them to get their arms extended and drive the ball at will. While hitting Martinez ended up loading the bases and threatened to wipe out a 2-0 Tribe lead, it did send a message that the Indians are going to be more aggressive.

Two batters later, Yoenis Cespedes crushed a ball to center that would have been out in most parks, but Michael Bourn made a running grab near the wall to end the inning. In the second, Alex Castellanos homered to right and Detroit had runners on first and second before Salazar got Miguel Cabrera to strike out on a 94 mile per hour fastball. After that, Salazar settled down, and the Indians’ offense put up a season-high 13 runs and 15 hits. The runs are also the most they have scored in Detroit since Comerica Park opened in 2000.

"He started going to his fastball and everything kind of goes of his fastball. But he threw some real good curveballs," Francona said. "He threw some changeups. He threw in enough to kind of keep them from extending their arms, but mixed all his pitches up and really did a good job."

Francona also added that Salazar had a good week but that the challenge remains to keep building off his starts and continue that consistency.

Salazar’s conditioning has started to pay off too. This is only the second time that he has thrown 100-plus pitches in back-to-back starts with Friday’s 115 being the second-most he has thrown in a major-league start.

"I keep doing the same thing, but I’m more focused in my bullpen and my throwing program, I have a great routine with Mickey (pitching coach Mickey Callaway) and we’re following that day by day," Salazar said.