DETROIT -- The Tigers’ bullpen was nearly still as Casey Mize worked through a 30-pitch, three-run fourth inning, just as it was when he had two runners on with two outs in the sixth inning of a one-run contest. The message from manager A.J. Hinch was clear: This was Mize’s game.

As Hinch said before Monday afternoon’s 3-2 loss to the Twins, the only limit on Mize within reason would be the quality of his pitches, not pitch count or workload. Thus, despite a two-out walk to Max Kepler in the sixth, Mize stayed in to face Miguel Sanó with a chance for Minnesota to break the makeup game open.

“The at-bat in the sixth was huge,” Mize said. “I definitely wanted to get him out there. I knew that would probably end my day, so I wanted to end it on a good note.”

Like he had most of the afternoon, Mize attacked Sanó -- first with sinkers, then with back-to-back sliders. The first slider got the call to put Sanó in a 1-2 count. The second dove off the plate as Sanó chased it for an inning-ending strikeout.

Subtly, Mize pumped his fist as he made his way to the Tigers’ dugout and received Hinch’s end-of-outing handshake. Detroit went on to see its streak of consecutive winning months end at three; the Tigers are 12-13 in August with one game to go against Oakland on Tuesday night. But with six quality innings, Mize showed signs of emerging from the other side of his midsummer doldrums and raised hopes of a strong stretch run to his first full Major League season.

Not only did Mize throw his first quality start since July 29, he pitched into the sixth inning for the first time since that outing against the Orioles a month ago. He hasn’t had his innings strictly curtailed since mid-July, but Hinch also wasn’t going to give him a deep pitch count to work out of trouble, which he has found. Mize’s previous four August starts included two three-homer outings and another with four walks in as many innings.

“Casey could’ve gone as long as he could,” Hinch said. “We could’ve gone another inning if it wasn’t for the situation we’re in, trying to manage a lot of situations with him. When the game started, I thought he might go nine.”

That’s because Monday’s outing looked a little more like early-season Mize, using his full arsenal against a Twins lineup that came ready to swing early and often on its one-day visit before returning home. Mize retired Minnesota’s first 10 batters in order, with only one three-ball count in the bunch. His leadoff strikeout of Luis Arraez was his first swing-and-miss induced on a splitter since Aug. 4 against the Red Sox.

Mize threw a handful of splitters, most of them early, but leaned heavily on his slider (accounting for 33 of his 79 pitches) as well as his sinker. Aside from a four-batter stretch in the fourth inning when the Twins forced Mize into hitting counts, the mix worked.

Once the Twins finally put a baserunner on against Mize with Byron Buxton’s one-out double into the left-field corner, the middle of Minnesota's lineup found patience and broke out.

“The fourth inning, I just got behind to some hitters,” Mize said. “Like to Buxton, I misfired on some fastballs which led to an advantage count for him, and he hooked a 3-1 slider down the line. It went from really quick at-bats to too long at-bats and disadvantage counts.”

Jorge Polanco, who tried to bunt against a splitter to end the first inning, shrugged off a couple of them -- one of which was actually close to the outside corner of the strike zone -- to work a full count in the fourth, then connected on a slider inside and sent it to the opposite field for an RBI single.

Mize pounded Josh Donaldson inside for a 1-2 count, but couldn’t get the 2015 American League MVP Award winner to chase either of the two sliders he spotted just off the outside corner. With another full count, Mize threw a sinker over the plate, which Donaldson sent 436 feet to the center-field shrubs for a go-ahead two-run homer.

Another double from Kepler brought the threat for more, but Mize retired Sanó and Nick Gordon to get back in form.

“Four batters in a row led to three runs, but other than that, it was fine,” Mize said. “But that four-batter stretch was the difference in the game.”