Quintin Berry slapped a base hit through the drawn-in infield, then took off for first base. He raised both hands in the air in celebration, rounded the bag and ripped off his helmet.

”I’ve never had a walk-off before,” the Detroit outfielder said. ”I showed it out there, jumping around, acting crazy. You don’t know what to do with yourself.”

Berry’s tiebreaking RBI single in the 10th inning gave the Tigers a 2-1 win over the St. Louis Cardinals on Thursday. It was another bright moment for the 27-year-old rookie, who is hitting .315 on the year.

Detroit also got an encouraging performance from another youngster. Jacob Turner allowed a run and four hits in five innings in his first start of the season.

”He did fine. I will say this: He’s much improved,” Detroit manager Jim Leyland said. ”There’s no question about that. He’s much improved from the last time I saw him, particularly at the big league level.”

Prince Fielder homered for the Tigers.

Ramon Santiago and Jhonny Peralta started the winning rally with one-out singles off Victor Marte (0-1), who then grazed Austin Jackson’s jersey with a pitch. Berry followed with a grounder up the middle to end it, and the Tigers poured onto the field to mob him.

”They gave me a good shot, but it’s the best feeling you could get, being ripped up a little bit,” Berry said. ”I’ll let them do it every day.”

Joaquin Benoit (1-1) got the win.

Kyle Lohse allowed a run and four hits in seven innings for the Cardinals.

The 21-year-old Turner was recalled from Triple-A Toledo before the game. Left-hander Drew Smyly has been out because of a blister on his left middle finger.

Turner kept the Tigers in the game while their offense struggled. He walked five – one intentionally – and struck out three.

Fielder put Detroit in front with a 425-foot homer in the fourth. The slugging first baseman flipped his bat forward after making contact with his huge uppercut swing, and there was no doubt about his 11th homer of the year.

”I was going to bounce a breaking ball,” Lohse said. ”Unfortunately, I missed bouncing it by about four feet and Prince killed it.”

The lead didn’t last long. With one out and men on second and third in the fifth, Matt Holliday lifted a foul fly that Detroit right fielder Don Kelly caught while almost falling into the seats. The tying run came home on the play, but after an intentional walk to Carlos Beltran, Turner got out of the inning on a flyout by Allen Craig.

Kelly appeared OK after his catch but eventually left in the eighth with a left knee contusion. He is day to day.

Turner, a first-round draft pick in 2009, posted an 8.53 ERA in three starts last year. He was named Detroit’s top prospect by Baseball America earlier this year, and he acquitted himself fine in his return to the big leagues – against his hometown team, too.

Turner grew up about 25 miles outside St. Louis, and current Cardinals manager Mike Matheny actually helped mentor him in high school.

”My parents came up for the game,” Turner said. ”I grew up rooting for the Cardinals, so it’s kind of surreal to pitch against them.”

After Turner departed, Octavio Dotel, Phil Coke, Brayan Villarreal and Benoit pitched the next five innings, holding the Cardinals to two hits and striking out six.

The Tigers are without closer Jose Valverde, who has an injured right wrist.

Daniel Descalso hit a leadoff double against Coke in the seventh, but the Cardinals couldn’t get him home.

Detroit intentionally walked Beltran with first base open again in the 10th, and again the move worked. Craig popped out with men on first and second to end the threat.

Tigers catcher Alex Avila had a single in his return from a right hamstring injury.

— Associated Press —

Jake Westbrook took advantage of some extra rest and pitched a little longer – all the way until the end for his first complete game in over two years.

Westbrook gave up only an unearned run in the St. Louis Cardinals’ 3-1 victory over the Detroit Tigers on Wednesday night. The right-hander’s last two starts have been on five days’ rest, and he’s won them both.

”I guess the older I get, the better it is to get a little more rest,” the 34-year-old Westbrook said.

Westbrook (6-6) allowed five hits, struck out five and walked one. It was his 14th career complete game, but his first since May 16, 2010, when he was pitching for Cleveland at Baltimore.

”It’s a great feeling,” he said. ”Every time you go out there, you want to finish what you start.”

The Cardinals took the lead in the sixth when Yadier Molina hit into a bases-loaded double play, breaking a 1-all tie. The Cardinals added an eighth-inning run on an error by Detroit shortstop Jhonny Peralta.

Rick Porcello (4-5) allowed two runs and 10 hits in seven innings.

Carlos Beltran had two hits and two walks for St. Louis.

The Cardinals loaded the bases in the sixth on a double by Matt Holliday, a walk by Beltran and a single by Allen Craig. Detroit played its infield back for a double play up the middle, and that’s exactly what the Tigers got when Molina hit a groundball to short.

The Tigers limited the damage to one run that inning, but managed only one more base runner the rest of the game.

”Today was definitely a good step in the right direction, and I want to keep that going,” Porcello said. ”With this offense, if I can go out and throw seven innings and give up two runs, we’re going to win a lot of games. If I can keep doing what I did tonight, we’ll be OK.”

Westbrook hadn’t thrown more than seven innings in a game this year.

”He was awesome,” St. Louis outfielder Allen Craig said. ”When he’s pitching like that, he’s really fun to play behind.”

Westbrook allowed only two hits after the third inning, and both were with two out. Porcello had a similar outing but wasn’t quite as effective.

”Being a contact pitcher and a groundball pitcher, you are going to give up hits,” Porcello said. ”At the same time, for every grounder or line drive that gets through, you should be able to get another one that gets you out of an inning and limits the damage.”

Tigers catcher Gerald Laird left the game in the fifth with left hamstring cramping after tagging up and advancing from first to second on a deep flyout.

Austin Jackson had two hits for the Tigers and gave them a 1-0 lead with an RBI double in the third. That came after Laird hit a bloop single and went to second on an error by second baseman Daniel Descalso.

David Freese led off the fifth for St. Louis with a single, and after a single by Matt Adams, Descalso hit a sacrifice fly to left to tie the game. Adams advanced to second on the out.

One out later, Skip Schumaker hit a single to left. Adams tried to score from second but lost his balance a bit coming around third, and outfielder Quintin Berry’s perfect one-hop throw to the plate was in time.

The Tigers gifted St. Louis an insurance run in the eighth. Beltran drew a one-out walk against reliever Brayan Villarreal and went to second on a balk. With two outs, Molina hit a line drive that went off Peralta’s glove for an error.

— Associated Press —