LAKELAND, Fla. -- The Tigers must have figured if you can't beat Shane Greene, make him join you.
As Tigers manager Brad Ausmus summed it up earlier in spring training, the two times Greene faced them last season, "He shoved it up our (butts)."
Greene threw eight scoreless innings against them last Aug. 7 and then allowed just two runs in seven innings last Aug. 27.
James McCann, who has caught both of Greene's starts, said he couldn't explain Greene's 29-43 record, 4.39 ERA and 1.48 WHIP in the minors.
"I couldn't tell you what his numbers are overall, but I do know that he has always had our number as a team," McCann said. "Even going up to the big leagues last year, he pitched really well against the Tigers. So I've always thought he had very good stuff."
On Dec. 5, the Tigers swung a three-team deal that brought Greene to Detroit from New York, and sent Robbie Ray and infielder Domingo Leyba to the Arizona Diamondbacks. The Yankees also got infielder Didi Gregorius from the Diamondbacks.
In his first start against the Houston Astros last Sunday, Greene allowed three earned runs on six hits while striking out two.
Although it was just his first start, Greene was not happy.
"Anybody in this locker room that's telling that when they fail they're OK with it, they're lying to you," Greene said. "Every time I go out there, I expect the best out of myself and when I don't do that, it's a little frustrating."
On Friday in Kissimmee against the Atlanta Braves, Greene had nothing to be frustrated about in a 12-2 victory.
Greene delivered three strong scoreless innings. He did not allow a hit and struck out two, needing only 32 pitches to get through three.
"I was impressed with how efficient he was," McCann said. "Of all his pitches I can only think of maybe one or two that he really missed his spot on."
Tigers manager Brad Ausmus said Greene had much better command.
"Threw one real good change-up for a pop-up," Ausmus said. "His change-up was a little hard the other day. He threw more of them but the ones he threw today were better. It's a pitch that we want him to get a feel for and use, especially against left-handed hitters."
McCann said he thought against the Astros, Greene was just too amped up.
"Today he was a lot more calm, a lot more smooth in his delivery," McCann said. "That just allowed everything to work like it should."
Greene is 26 and has just 15 major-league games under his belt.
So he's keeping his eye on some of the Tigers' veterans this spring.
"I learned a lot last year and I'm still learning," Greene said. "I joke around and I tell people I'm a student of the game. But really for me it's just watching guys go about their business, how they handle themselves between pitches, and guys like (David) Price and (Justin) Verlander that have done that. I just try to soak everything in and see how they go about it and take something from it."
The Tigers got three RBI each from Josh Wilson, who started at second in place of Ian Kinsler, who was out with a left shoulder strain, and Jason Krizan, who had a bases-clearing triple in the ninth.
Jose Iglesias, Wynton Bernard, Aaron Westlake, McCann, Austin Green and Andrew Romine each drove in a run.
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COMPLETE TIGERS SPRING TRAINING 2015 COVERAGE
