DETROIT _ Tommy Milone was in total control Tuesday. It was just a matter of how long manager Paul Molitor would go with him.
And Molitor allowed Milone to take a one-hitter into the ninth inning.
Three hits and a sacrifice fly later, Milone was out of the game. Two singles later, the bases were loaded and the tying run was at the plate. But Brandon Kintlzer struck out the final two batters of the game, and the Twins won, 6-2, for their first victory over Detroit in eight games.
The Tigers' Anibal Sanchez entered the game with a career 2.32 ERA against the Twins.
Milone was on the mound for the Twins. He's viewed by fans as a placeholder for prospect Jose Berrios, who is at Class AAA Rochester.
The Twins were shutout on Monday and have scored eight runs over their last four games.
And the Tigers had won all seven games between the teams this season.
The evidence clearly stacked against them, the Twins promptly outlasted Sanchez, battered reliever Bruce Rondon and survived a late uprising to win the game.
Milone (3-2) was masterful, throwing a one-hitter over eight innings before weakening in the ninth, but still won his third straight start.
The Twins took some blows during the battle. Sanchez outsmarted them for six innings, racking up 10 strikeouts.
Kurt Suzuki opened the third with a single to left, when to third on Byron Buxton's single to center then scored on a sacrifice fly Eduardo Nunez for the first run of the game.
Then the Twins pounced in the seventh as Sanchez faded. Nunez poked a single through a drawn-in infield to drive in Suzuki and Kennys Vargas. Rondon replaced Sanchez, but Joe Mauer added an RBI single to drive in Nunez, and Brian Dozier clubbed a two-run homer to left to give the Twins a 6-0 lead and knock Rondon out of the game
Meanwhile, Milone crafted his gem. The finesse pitcher was locked in on the outside corner and kept Detroit hitters off-balance throughout the night. The Tigers had three baserunners during the first eight innings, when Cameron Maybin reached on an error by Max Kepler in the first, when James McCann singled in the third and when Victor Martinez walked in the seventh.
Some Tigers attempted to make adjustments. Miguel Cabrera started looking to go the other way, but Joe Mauer made a sprawling stop of his hot shot in the fourth, and a deep drive to right in the sixth floated foul. He then grounded out.
Milone finished the eighth with 96 pitches thrown and looked ready to call it a night. But Milone jogged out for the ninth. His gem ended up with some blemishes on it, but he still got the win.
