ANAHEIM -- The first sign came in batting practice, when Gary Sheffield found the right balance and began doing what he does best: a line drive up the middle, followed by a shot out of the park, followed by a ball soundly smoked into right field.

The ball has a special sound when it comes off Sheffield's bat, and this is the noise that the Tigers have been lacking for much of April. The comfort level that has eluded Sheffield and, by association, many of the hitters around him in his first season with the Tigers finally made its way into Sheffield's swing Monday. Though his modest line in the box score read just 2-for-4, it was apparent that Detroit's 9-5 victory over the Angels before 40,563 might signify more than a common victory.

"In batting practice, my first hit-and-run was a line drive to right field," Sheffield said. "That's my sign. Every pitch I got, I was able to hit it on the line, out of the park and the opposite way. Anytime I hit the ball up the middle -- and I thought I had a good, powerful swing -- is good for me. I'm not pulling off the ball. When I'm doing that, I feel like a complete hitter as opposed to a one-dimensional hitter."

What Sheffield does is make Detroit more than a one-dimensional offense. He had an RBI single up the middle as part of Detroit's five-run second inning that pushed Angels starter Jered Weaver out of the game. Sheffield also grounded out to short twice, drew a walk, and in the ninth inning, again singled up the middle.

He raised his batting average from .119 to .143, but that was all Tigers manager Jim Leyland needed to see.

"He's getting real close," Leyland said. "You can tell he's almost there. I could tell today he's close to breaking out. I saw him in batting practice and he looked a little bit different. He's going to break loose, there's no doubt in my mind."

Curtis Granderson (3-for-5) helped the Tigers (11-8) break lose against Weaver (0-2), the rookie star of last year who looked as bad Monday as he looked terrific in 2006. Granderson hit his seventh career leadoff home run on Weaver's fifth pitch of the game. It took the 24-year-old 36 pitches to escape the first inning, but after a pair of strikeouts to begin the second inning, Weaver was merely mortal.

Gone was his stellar fastball command that marked an 11-2, 2.56 debut season.

Last year mattered little to the Tigers, who got RBI hits from Sheffield and an infield single from Magglio Ordonez in the second. Angels third baseman Robb Quinlan committed a throwing error that allowed two additional runs to score, building a 7-0 lead.

Starter Mike Maroth had limited command and needed 105 pitches to get through 4 2/3 innings. He walked a season-high five batters and gave up seven hits and three runs (two earned). Jason Grilli (2-0) got Mike Napoli to end the inning with the help of a good play on an in-between hop fielded by third baseman Brandon Inge.

Sheffield's rediscovery of his approach helped the Tigers find their offense, and in doing so, may help them find their confidence.

"He's a franchise player," Grilli said. "When he's waving that stick around like a Wiffle Ball bat, it puts in your mind's eye what he can do when he gets in a groove. He's got a big season coming."

Sheffield said the day off Leyland gave him Sunday helped take pressure off mentally. Sheffield applied that to his pregame approach and brought it into the game. A team that has been looking for offensive answers knows that its first solution must be found within Sheffield, something he acknowledges.

"The way I was playing, I was killing rallies and killing innings and not giving [Ordonez and Carlos Guillen] a chance to do something," he said. "I have to be able to extend those innings. When you're the No. 3 hitter, you're supposed to ignite the offense, not slow it down."

Leyland has been around long enough to know he can't predict what will happen for certain, but he sounded convinced that Sheffield has finally found where he needed to be.

"This is the way we thought up this lineup when he got here," Leyland said.

As for Sheffield, a .143 average on April 24 sounds wonderful to him, even if it looks brutal next to his name.

"I felt like myself today," he said. "It took this many games. It wouldn't have mattered if I didn't get a hit today, I felt like I have big things to come."

John Klima is a contributor to MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.