Robertson pitches Tigers past Twins

Start by start, pitch by pitch, Nate Robertson is gradually waking up his tired pitching arm.

The bespectacled left-hander gave up three hits in seven innings Tuesday night to outpitch Matt Garza in Detroit’s 1-0 victory over the Minnesota Twins.

Robertson (6-6), who spent 20 days on the disabled list in June because of a tired arm, struck out five and walked two to win for only the third time in 10 starts. Todd Jones worked the ninth for his 24th save in 28 chances.

“I feel good,” Robertson said. “The sharpness of my pitches is the result I’m looking for. Right now I’ve got some good movement on some of my pitches and I want to keep it going that way.”

Curtis Granderson had three hits and Magglio Ordonez capitalized on a key error by shortstop Jason Bartlett with an RBI single in the sixth to end Minnesota’s four-game winning streak.

“We made one mistake and it cost us the ball game,” Twins Manager Ron Gardenhire said. “We missed the play and we didn’t get through the inning. It kills you. It always does.”

Garza (1-1) was the hard-luck loser, giving up one unearned run and three hits in seven innings for the Twins, who started an important series on the wrong foot.

The Twins began the game trailing Detroit by six games but hoped to use this series to make up some ground.