CLEVELAND >> The trick, Tyler Holton said, was to find a way to unleash your “inner psychopath.”

Tough to find that level of aggression when he starts games as an opener. But Friday night, a sellout crowd at Progressive Field, the pesky Cleveland Guardians’ lineup and a tight, one-run game was more than enough to trigger it.

“Adrenaline, for sure,” he said after he pitched 2.2 scoreless innings, bridging a 2-1 game from the fifth inning through seventh.

Holton came in with a man on and one out in the fifth and his four-seam fastball was hitting 94 mph, 3 mph above his season norm.

“They have a guy in scoring position and you definitely realize the situation,” he said. “One-run game, big moment and against these guys, they can put things together pretty quick. Just do whatever you can to get back in the dugout.”

He got the dangerous Carlos Santana to fly out to end the fifth, the he struck out the side in the sixth, all on called third strikes. That would have been a stellar outing if it ended there. But with the Tigers’ bullpen stretched thin, it was imperative for Holton to get through the seventh to get the game and the lead to Tommy Kahnle and Will Vest.

He ended a clean seventh by striking out Steven Kwan, one of the hardest players in the game to punch out.

“He’s seen everything I’ve got,” Holton said. “At the end of the day, just keep doing what got you here. He’s going to win some battles and I’m going to win some battles. That’s just the way it goes.

“But it was nice to get the strikeout to finish the outing and set us up for the eighth and ninth.”

Holton got Kwan to chase a 1-2 sinker and then he let out a yell that teammate Tarik Skubal would’ve been proud of. The inner psychopath released.

“That just tells me I’m going to have to find a way to make him crazy before his next start,” manager AJ Hinch said, laughing.

Holton has opened five games this season and he has allowed five runs, along with three home runs, in 7.2 innings. But he hasn’t allowed a run over his last five outings, including one start, with seven strikeouts and no walks.

The uptick in velocity has come with much crisper action and more consistent command on his vast array of secondary pitches.

“The velocity gives him more margin for error,” Hinch said. “But I think what’s really key for him is making sure the hitter knows he’s going to be in the strike zone. That makes the swing and miss come into play, the deception and all the ways his ball moves play up more. That’s when you get the funky swings we saw outside the zone.

“The velocity plays and the command and control is probably the biggest element.”

Holton’s brilliance the last two seasons — 10-4 record and 2.15 ERA in 125 games — set a high bar, which made some of his early struggles this season appear more stark than they actually were.

“He’s worked hard to get his body back moving the right way,” Hinch said. “The pitching group has dug in on everything from his leg lift to his finish to how he’s using his pitches. And he’s been really good in his last bunch of outings.”

Holton said it all comes down to belief and execution.

“I’ve got to believe I am capable of being that kind of guy,” he said, meaning a fearless reliever who will throw any pitch.