Twins 2, Tigers 0: Eduardo Escobar homered to lead off the third and Kyle Gibson tossed seven strong innings as visiting Minnesota secured its third victory in a row.

Escobar provided insurance by working an 11-pitch walk with the bases loaded in the ninth inning for the Twins, who have won four of the six meetings with American League Central-leading Detroit. Kendrys Morales recorded one of the team's four hits and is 7-for-17 in his last four games.

Alex Avila had two of the six hits for the slumping Tigers, who have dropped nine of their last 12 contests. Miguel Cabrera singled in the first inning to improve to 11-for-27 during his seven-game hitting streak.

With second baseman Brian Dozier nursing a sore back, Escobar drew the start and deposited a 1-2 slider from Drew Smyly (3-5) over the wall in left field for his second homer. The blast spoiled the 25th birthday of Smyly, who permitted just that one run on four hits in six innings to suffer the hard-luck loss.

Gibson (6-5) kept the slim advantage by inducing an inning-ending double play in the fifth to escape a bases-loaded jam. The 26-year-old scattered five hits to post his first road win since April 5 and Glen Perkins worked around Nick Castellanos' two-out double in the ninth for his 17th save.

GAME NOTEBOOK: Tigers DH Victor Martinez and Twins rookie SS Danny Santana each went 0-for-4 to see their seven-game hitting streaks come to an end. ... Minnesota placed Aaron Hicks on the 15-day disabled list with a right shoulder strain and recalled fellow OF Sam Fuld from Double-A New Britain. ... Detroit CF Austin Jackson went 0-for-3 to see his 13-game hitting streak versus the Twins come to a halt.