Detroit, MI (Best E Casino) - Jason Kubel hit a grand slam and Glen Perkins threw 7 2/3 innings of one-run baseball, as the Minnesota Twins took a 6-1 win in the rubber match of a three-game set with Detroit.

Perkins (2-1) allowed one run on seven hits and a pair of walks, and fanned four for the Twins, who got their first series win since taking three of four from Boston from May 9-12.

"He was fantastic," Twins manager Ron Gardenhire said of Perkins. "He came out on a mission. He was good at both sides of the plate and gave us a chance to win."

Kubel -- who turned 26 on Sunday -- finished 2-for-3, while Mike Lamb added a double among three hits and Alexi Casilla drove in a run for Minnesota.

"It was a good birthday present for me," Kubel said of his grand slam. "Usually it's no hits for me on that day."

Francisco Cruceta (0-2) took the loss after giving up Kubel's grand slam, and made Justin Verlander's solid start a no-decision. Verlander gave up just one run on five hits in seven innings.

In his past three starts, including Sunday's contest, Verlander has given up four runs and 15 hits in 19 innings -- good for a 1.89 ERA -- with eight walks and 13 strikeouts.

"Verlander was great. That's the Verlander I know," Tigers manager Jim Leyland said. "I thought he threw the ball extremely well, very aggressive. Very, very positive day for Justin."

Carlos Guillen went 3-for-4 with a home run and double, but the Tigers lost the fifth out of their past six games against the Twins.

The only runs through the first seven innings came in the second frame. Minnesota put one on the board when Delmon Young grounded into a double play, plating Michael Cuddyer.

In the home half, Perkins offered a fastball up to Guillen, and the Tigers' third baseman ripped it over the wall in left-center field.

Kubel broke the deadlock in a big way in the eighth. Carlos Gomez led off with a single against Cruceta, and advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt by Casilla. Joe Mauer then walked on an intentional free pass, and Justin Morneau followed that with another base on balls.

The Tigers reliever got a huge out by getting Cuddyer to swing and miss at a changeup. But Cruceta fell behind in the count to Kubel, who crushed a 3-1 fastball down the middle of the plate to right-center for the grand slam, and a 5-1 Twins lead.

Perkins got into some trouble in the eighth, when Magglio Ordonez followed a Gary Sheffield single with a two-out ground-rule double -- the ball glanced off left fielder Young's glove, hit the turf and bounced over the fence.

But Matt Guerrier came in and got Miguel Cabrera swinging to end the threat.

Minnesota added a Casilla RBI single in the ninth to increase its lead to five, and Joe Nathan worked a scoreless bottom half to end the game.

Game Notes

The Tigers fell to 0-7 in Sunday games...Sheffield finished with two hits for Detroit...Minnesota continues its six-game road trip in Kansas City, with a three-game series starting Tuesday...Detroit hits the road for a nine-game trip, starting Monday against the Angels.