PHILADELPHIA -- Spencer Turnbull did something on Tuesday that only two other pitchers have done in the last century.

It's not necessarily a category Turnbull wants to find himself in, but it certainly speaks to the rarity of his outing in a 3-1 win over the Phillies at Citizens Bank Park.

On the surface, Turnbull's numbers look ordinary, albeit impressive -- one run over six innings against a stacked Phils lineup. Yet he was able to do that on a night when he also had two walks, hit a pair of batters and uncorked three wild pitches.

In doing so, Turnbull became just the third pitcher in the last 100 years to limit the damage to just one run despite multiple walks, multiple hit batters and at least three wild pitches in the same outing. The others: Victor Zambrano for the 2003 Rays and Pete Broberg for the 1971 Washington Senators -- against the Tigers.

"He gets out of whack every once in awhile in his line to home plate," manager Ron Gardenhire said. "It happens. He doesn’t want to hit anybody, but sometimes those guys that are effectively wild -- it helps them a little bit."

Turnbull had a similar experience in his last outing on April 23 against the Red Sox. He issued four walks and hit two batters, but kept Boston scoreless over five innings of work.

But about that "effectively wild" label...

"Not necessarily," said a smiling Turnbull when asked if he views that description as a compliment. "But work with whatever works. Definitely kind of just rolling with that term right now, but I’m just trying to get outs, and however I have to do that is what I’m going to do."

Turnbull has allowed just one earned run over 17 innings in his last three starts, good for a 0.53 ERA. While he's handed out 12 free passes -- via either a walk or hit batsman -- in those 17 frames, he's also allowed just seven hits, including three against the Phillies.

In fact, Turnbull is the first Tigers starter to allow three hits or fewer in three consecutive outings since Michael Fulmer in 2016.

Though Turnbull was mixing in all of his pitches effectively on Tuesday, the key seemed to be his fastball. Seven of his 15 swings and misses came against his four-seamer, and the Phils didn't put a single one of them in play with an exit velocity above 90 mph, according to Statcast.

"His changeup was diving, and I think you saw his fastball cutting and running," Gardenhire said. "He’s got a good arm. He can rear back and let it fly, and blow it right by people. I’ve said it all along, I like watching this kid pitch."

Watching Turnbull hit might be a different story.

Playing in a National League ballpark, Turnbull's first at-bat of the season came with the bases loaded and two outs in the top of the second inning. He took a pair of strikes -- fastballs at 95 and 97 mph, respectively -- before taking a ball out of the zone. Turnbull then fouled off a 96-mph fastball, only to take another 96-mph heater for strike three.

"He was ready to let it fly," Gardenhire said. "And I said, 'Let's try taking one first, then we'll go from there. If it's strike one, then you can let it fly.'"

Turnbull, who struck out in all three of his at-bats Tuesday, admitted he might need to spend some time in the cage before he steps into the box again.

“Definitely need some work on my swing a little bit," he joked. "It’s not something I’m proud of at the moment.”

Hitting woes aside, the 26-year-old righty can hang his hat on his latest effectively wild performance.

"Still struggling a little bit with some of my command stuff," Turnbull said, "but it was definitely better tonight than it was last week. Overall, I was pretty pleased."