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MINNEAPOLIS -- Kyle Gibson dazzled for seven innings before tiring late, rookie Zack Granite had his first career three-hit game and the Minnesota Twins managed to hold on to a 6-5 win against the Detroit Tigers on Saturday. Max Kepler, Eddie Rosario and Jason Castro each had two hits for Minnesota, which built a 6-0 lead before Detroit's late five-run eighth inning.
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Gibson (6-8) had his longest outing of the season, pitching 7 1/3 innings with three runs allowed on five hits and three walks. The right-hander gave up just three hits through seven innings. Brandon Kintzler recorded four outs for his 27th save in 30 chances.
Tigers starter Jordan Zimmerman (6-8) lasted just 3 2/3 innings, yielding five runs, nine hits and four walks. Alex Presley had three hits for Detroit and Justin Upton homered during the late rally.
The Twins left nine runners on base during the first five innings and 11 for the game.
Zimmermann threw 81.4 percent of his pitches for strikes in his last outing but the strikes weren't coming as easily on Saturday. Zimmermann appeared to take issue with some of the calls by home-plate umpire James Hoye and gave up hits when he was forced to throw down the middle.
With one out in the third inning, Zimmerman gave up four straight hits. Joe Mauer drove in Kepler with a single. Robbie Grossman followed with an RBI double and Rosario's sacrifice fly scored Mauer.
Castro and Brian Dozier led off the fourth inning with two singles. Miguel Sano's sacrifice fly scored Castro and Dozier scored on a throwing error by Tigers second baseman Ian Kinsler.
Shortstop Jose Iglesias made a nice stop up the middle on a ground ball by Mauer and flipped the ball behind his back to Kinsler at second, but the throw sailed wide of first.
Given a lead, Gibson settled in with his most impressive stretch of the season by retiring 12 straight hitters at one point, including nine via ground balls.
With a mix of low pitches in the zone, Gibson got 11 ground-ball outs. He pitched into the eighth inning for the first time since Sept. 13, 2016, in a win at Detroit.
But the Tigers finally got to Gibson and reliever Taylor Rogers in the eighth.
Gibson retired the first batter of the inning before giving up a single, walk and ground-rule double to Presley to surrender his first run.
Upton followed with his 16th homer of the season, a three-run shot that hit off the left-field foul pole against Rogers. Mikie Mahtook reached on a throwing error by Sano as James McCann scored to make it a one-run game.
NOTES: Minnesota held a ceremony for the team's 1987 World Series-winning team before the game, with many of the players in attendance. Frank Viola, the MVP of the series, spoke and closer Jeff Reardon threw out the first pitch to catcher Tim Laudner to re-create the final out of the seven-game series against the St. Louis Cardinals. ... Detroit 1B Miguel Cabrera was out of the lineup a day after suffering a right clavicle contusion when a ground ball bounced up and hit him in the chest on Friday. Manager Brad Ausmus said Saturday that Cabrera is still sore. ... Twins LHP Glen Perkins, recovering from shoulder surgery last season, pitched in a game for the first time since April 10, 2016. Perkins threw a scoreless inning on eight pitches in the Gulf Coast League as he tries to make his return. He struck out two batters and reached 90 mph on the radar gun. ... Minnesota CF Byron Buxton (left groin strain) is not expected to go on a rehab assignment and he's expected to be activated from the 10-day disabled list when he's eligible on Tuesday. ... Twins LHP Hector Santiago (upper thoracic back pain) will head to Triple-A Rochester to begin a rehab assignment.
