He gave up one earned run in three innings, recovering from a three-walk second inning with a 1-2-3 third inning. Detroit beat Venezuela 7-5 despite missing four players who would have been in the Tigers starting lineup today if there were no World Baseball Classic.

Tigers catcher Gerald Laird said Willis entered the third inning as if saying, "I'm just going to pitch like I know how."

He also got Bobby Abreu to ground out and Magglio Ordonez to fly out that inning.

"He looked like a totally different person," Laird said. "I told him, 'That's it, right there.' He just needs to take whatever he did there out with him next time. It was like night and day from the first two innings. I'm just so happy for him. He needed something like that.

"If this guy gets to where he needs to be, he will be something special."

Willis said he was pleased with all three innings, noting he was "around the zone" even when walking three batters and saying he didn't "get the calls" on close pitches.

"Everyone wants to be Cy Young," Willis said, "but I feel like I accomplished a lot of things. I made some pitches and got out some pretty big-time hitters."

Abreu and his Tigers teammates -- Cabrera, Ordonez and Carlos Guillen -- form the heart of the Venezuelan batting order. They went a combined 1-for-6 against Willis. Cabrera had a sacrifice fly and Guillen a single.

"The most important thing for Dontrelle is to throw strikes," Guillen said. "When he gets his confidence, he is going to be all right."

Detroit manager Jim Leyland said, "I saw some strides."