DETROIT ? Troy Percival saved at least 30 games in each of the last seven seasons.

This year, it took him almost a month to close out a win.

In his eighth outing of the season, Percival pitched a perfect ninth inning for Detroit’s first save, and the Tigers beat the Minnesota Twins, 6-4, Monday.

“I’ve never gone this long at the beginning of a season without a save, but I kept telling myself that today would be the day,” said Percival, who the Tigers signed away from the Angels as a free agent to bolster their bullpen. “I had better stuff today than I have all year.”

The Tigers had blown all seven save opportunities before Percival struck out two of the three batters he faced. Detroit was the last team in the majors to record a save.

The game was a make-up for the first of two games postponed by a spring snowstorm Saturday and Sunday. The attendance was announced at 14,976, but it looked like barely 1,000 showed up to Comerica Park to watch Jason Johnson face Brad Radke on a 50-degree day.

“It’s always tough when you have a couple days of off,” Tigers manager Alan Trammell said. “But we played a crisp game.”

Justin Morneau gave the Twins a 4-3 lead in the seventh with a two-run double to left-center against Kyle Farnsworth, who couldn’t hold a 3-2 lead after Johnson left with two outs and a man on in the seventh.

But the Twins’ bullpen failed Radke in the bottom of the seventh.

Detroit closer Troy Percival delivers in the ninth inning of the Tigers' 6-4 victory over Minnesota. Percival -- and Detroit -- picked up a season-first save Monday in Detroit.

“This was not a very good game for us,” Minnesota manager Ron Gardenhire said. “We took the lead, and then we kind of fell apart from there.”

Orioles 8, Red Sox 4

Boston — B. J. Surhoff hit a two-run homer, and Bruce Chen pitched effectively into the seventh inning, leading Baltimore over Boston. Brian Roberts went 3-for-5 with two RBIs and a pair of stolen bases for the Orioles, winners of 12 of 17 games. Chen (2-1) kept the Red Sox batters off balance most of the night by mixing in a soft curveball and a changeup. He allowed three runs on nine hits in six-plus innings.

White Sox 6, Athletics 0

Oakland, Calif. — Jon Garland (4-0) pitched a four-hitter for his second career shutout, and Chris Widger broke open a scoreless game in the seventh with a two-run homer in Chicago’s eighth straight victory. Widger’s shot was the backup catcher’s first homer in the majors since Aug. 9, 2000, and it helped Chicago improve to 10-2 on the road — its best start since the “Go Go Sox” did the same on the way to the AL pennant in 1959.