MINNEAPOLIS -- With the trade deadline approaching, adding a starting pitcher appears to be the desire of the Minnesota Twins.

More outings such as the one Kyle Gibson gave Minnesota on Saturday night could lessen the need.

Gibson dazzled for seven innings before tiring late, rookie Zack Granite had his first career three-hit game and the Twins managed to hold on to a 6-5 victory over the Detroit Tigers.

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.

Gibson (6-8) had his longest outing of the season, pitching 7 1/3 innings with three runs allowed, five hits and three walks. The right-hander gave up only three hits through seven innings.

"I'm always trying to be that guy that can be relied on every five days," Gibson said, acknowledging he could lose his spot in the rotation if the Twins trade for another starter. "It's been rocky, obviously, this year, but for the most part the last couple months I've felt good about what's going on. ... There's just so much out of my control. All I can do is keep working every five days and try to get better and better."

Brandon Kintzler recorded four outs for his 27th save in 30 chances.

Tigers starter Jordan Zimmerman (6-8) lasted 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.

"When you get momentum and some of our middle-of-the-order guys come up, it's pretty scary," Presley said. "We can put some runs on the board quick. That inning showed that. Unfortunately, we came up short. It says a lot about the team. At that point, we could have just rolled over and we stayed battling."

The Twins almost blew the game after leaving nine runners on base during the first five innings and 11 overall.

"It's amazing how it feels different when you go out there in the ninth leading 6-5 and you've given up the last five, as opposed to just a normal game when you're ahead 6-5," Minnesota manager Paul Molitor said. "You can feel it. That's where your closer steps up and takes care of business."

Zimmermann threw 81.4 percent of his pitches for strikes in his last outing, but the strikes weren't coming as easily this time. He didn't get the borderline calls by home-plate umpire James Hoye and gave up hits when he was forced to throw down the middle.

"I just tried to stick to the game plan and hoped I would start getting those calls," Zimmerman said. "Unfortunately, I really didn't the whole night. I had a rough time getting in to lefties, fastball into lefties. Fastball away to lefties, there was a lot of borderline calls that I thought could have gone either way and I just didn't get those calls tonight."

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.

Tigers 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.

"Nice job defensively, but the three-run homer obviously got us back in the game and kind of ignited the dugout after it being relatively quiet through the first seven innings," Detroit manager Brad Ausmus said, as Upton also made a leaping catch at the wall earlier. "That swing of the bat immediately, I think, shifted the game for a moment in our favor and we were able to get back into it and within one."

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 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 is expected to be activated from the 10-day disabled list when he's eligible Tuesday. ... Twins LHP Hector Santiago (upper thoracic back pain) will head to Triple-A Rochester to begin a rehab assignment.