TORONTO (Interstat) — Max Scherzer allowed one earned run over five innings, Louis Varland closed with a scoreless ninth and the Toronto Blue Jays beat the Detroit Tigers 5-1 on Wednesday afternoon at Rogers Centre.

Scherzer, who improved to 3-8, allowed one earned run on three hits over five innings with three strikeouts. He gave up his only run in the first inning but settled in from there, keeping Detroit off the scoreboard over his final four innings. The outing came after Scherzer had allowed six earned runs over five innings against Baltimore on Sept. 11 and three earned runs over 5 2/3 innings at Kansas City on Sept. 5. Against Detroit, he kept the Tigers from building on an early lead and handed the game to a Toronto bullpen that finished with four scoreless innings. Spencer Miles followed with two innings, allowing four hits with one strikeout and no earned runs. Mason Fluharty pitched a scoreless inning. Varland recorded his 34th save with one inning of work and two strikeouts.

Detroit opened the scoring in the first. Kevin McGonigle grounded out to second baseman Josh Smith, and Hao-Yu Lee struck out swinging. Colt Keith then doubled on a fly ball to center fielder Brett Bateman, and Riley Greene singled on a ground ball to center, scoring Keith. Greene advanced to second on the throw, but Dillon Dingler flew out to right fielder Nathan Lukes to end the inning. Greene finished 1-for-4 with one RBI. Detroit’s only run came on that sequence, and the Tigers managed seven hits overall.

Keider Montero started for Detroit and took the loss, falling to 9-9. He pitched four innings, allowed six hits and two earned runs, struck out four and walked two. Montero worked out of trouble in the first after Bateman singled and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. singled, getting George Springer and Kazuma Okamoto on strikeouts. In the second, he allowed singles to Brandon Valenzuela and Myles Straw, but struck out Bateman to keep Toronto off the board. Montero also induced a Springer double-play grounder in the third after a Guerrero walk.

Toronto broke through in the fourth. Okamoto walked, and Smith doubled on a line drive to right fielder Brett Callahan, moving Okamoto to third. Ernie Clement then hit a sacrifice fly to center fielder Max Clark, scoring Okamoto. Valenzuela grounded out to second baseman Hao-Yu Lee, advancing Smith to third, and Straw singled on a line drive to left fielder Riley Greene, scoring Smith. Straw was caught stealing second to end the inning, but Toronto had a 2-1 lead. Straw finished 2-for-4 with one RBI.

The Blue Jays added a run in the fifth. Bateman singled on a ground ball to left, and Lukes reached on a sacrifice bunt that moved Bateman to second. Guerrero grounded into a force out that put runners at the corners, with Lukes out at second and Bateman advancing to third. Springer then singled on a sharp line drive to right fielder Callahan, scoring Bateman. Okamoto followed with a double-play grounder from shortstop John Peck to second baseman Hao-Yu Lee to first baseman Spencer Torkelson, ending the inning with Toronto ahead 3-1.

Toronto scored twice more in the sixth, aided by Detroit fielding mistakes. Clement reached on a fielding error by shortstop Peck. Valenzuela then reached on a fielder’s choice, with Clement scoring and Valenzuela advancing to second on a throwing error by Peck. Straw reached on a fielding error by third baseman McGonigle. Bateman grounded into a force out that put Valenzuela at third and Straw out at second. Lukes followed with a soft ground-ball single to pitcher Drew Sommers, scoring Valenzuela. Guerrero lined out sharply to center fielder Clark to end the inning, but the Blue Jays had a 5-1 cushion.

Detroit’s bullpen kept the game within reach after Montero departed. Tyler Kinley pitched two innings without allowing a hit or an earned run. Sommers worked one inning and allowed one hit with no earned runs. Tyler Holton pitched one inning, allowed two hits and one earned run. The Tigers could not solve Toronto’s relief corps, though they put together late chances. In the seventh, Torkelson singled, but Callahan flew out and Peck grounded into a force out. In the eighth, McGonigle singled and Gleyber Torres singled to put runners at the corners with one out, but Greene popped out and Dingler grounded out.

In the ninth, Detroit again threatened. Max Clark singled on a line drive to first baseman Guerrero, and Torkelson walked. Varland responded by striking out Callahan swinging and getting Peck to line out to second baseman Smith. McGonigle was called out on strikes after a pitch-result challenge overturned the call on the field, ending the game. Varland’s save was his 34th of the season.

Toronto grounded into three double plays, including the Springer double play in the third, the Okamoto double play in the fifth and a Straw double play in the eighth. The double plays limited some Toronto rallies, but the Blue Jays still finished with nine hits. Detroit had seven hits. Toronto pitchers combined for 10 strikes, 51 balls and 10 balls in play. Detroit pitchers combined for 11 strikes, 51 balls and 11 balls in play.

The game took 2 hours, 33 minutes and was played before an announced attendance of 43,463 at Rogers Centre. With the win, Toronto improved to 76-77. Detroit fell to 72-80. The Tigers had won the first two games of the series, including a 10-1 victory on Tuesday and a 6-5 win on Monday, before Toronto avoided the sweep. Detroit continues its road trip at Chicago White Sox on Thursday. Toronto is off Thursday before opening a series at Texas Rangers on Friday.

Interstat’s game simulator had projected a final score of Detroit Tigers 6, Toronto Blue Jays 5. Interstat’s ELO system had projected Toronto with a 54.4 percent probability to win. Detroit had been installed as a pregame favorite with a spread of -1.5. The total score of 6 went over the over/under line of 8.5.