ANAHEIM -- The breaks came in bunches Monday and the Detroit Tigers were more than ready to welcome them.

Miguel Cabrera had three RBIs, including his first home run since July 4, and Jordan Zimmermann won a game for the first time all season as the Tigers ended a six-game losing streak with a 7-2 victory over the Angels.

• Box score

“We are a team and we have to win together and stick together,” Cabrera said. “It doesn’t matter how bad you play or how bad you’ve been pitching. We have to stay focused together with Zimmermann and I’m so happy for him because he got his first win.”

Once Zimmermann (1-8) was through the first inning, he was off and running. But the opening frame was not so simple, even though he faced the minimum three batters.

Not only did Mike Trout single in the first inning, Shohei Ohtani hit a ball at 114.6 mph. But Ohtani’s ground ball to Niko Goodrum ended up being a 4-6-3 double play to end the inning.

There was also Trout’s deep drive to right-center in the fourth inning that fell just short of a home run and into the glove of center fielder JaCoby Jones. The right-hander said one thing that helped was to move over slightly on the pitching rubber.

“I was far third-base side and moved over three inches, which makes getting the glove-side fastball away to righties a bit easier for me,” said Zimmermann, who threw just 61 pitches. “I was able to do that tonight. The slider was pretty good, the curveball was there again and the fastball command was pretty solid.”

And even when Zimmermann left the game with two runners aboard in the sixth, the Tigers escaped trouble. Zimmermann gave up a one-out RBI double to David Fletcher in the sixth, cutting the Tigers’ lead to a run at 3-2. He then hit Trout with a pitch on the knuckles of his left hand before he was removed from the game.

Reliever Blaine Hardy walked Ohtani to load the bases but struck out Justin Upton and Kole Calhoun to end the threat.

“I’m not going to say that we were all fighting for him to get his first win of the season, but I am going to say that coming into that game, I had a little bit more pressure than just a one-run game,” Hardy said. “It was a matter of preserving him being the pitcher in line for the win. I’m really happy I was able to complete that.”

Zimmermann gave up two runs on four hits over 5 1/3 innings with no walks and two strikeouts. It was his first victory since Sept. 5 of last year against the Chicago White Sox, leaving him empty handed for 17 consecutive starts before breaking through Monday.

“It’s never a good feeling or a good look,” Zimmermann said about pitching into late July without a victory. “Like I said all along, I was going to keep grinding until something good happened and tonight was a good night. I’ve been making progress in my pitching and this week the bullpen session was a lot better.”

Leg work

Not only was Cabrera’s home run just his second this month, he has just six in 93 games this year and nine home runs in 131 games over the past two seasons. It was also just the 20th extra-base hit for Cabrera all season.

He added a two-run single in the eighth before he was lifted for a pinch-runner, getting him off some tired and sore legs. Cabrera said he is doing his best to work through knee soreness and Monday was a reward for his efforts.

“I have this problem with my knee and a lot of problems with my legs,” Cabrera said. “I have to make an adjustment and live with it. I have to go out there and do everything I can to get ready for the game. That’s it.”

Castellanos returns

Nicholas Castellanos was robbed of a hit in the fourth inning when Angels third baseman Matt Thaiss made a diving stop on his hard ground ball. But Thaiss overthrew first base for a two-base error, putting Castellanos on second base and Christin Stewart followed with an RBI double.

Castellanos returned to the lineup after he was a late scratch Sunday at Seattle with abdominal discomfort.

“When you’re going through stretches and going through this first part of the season, it feels like every time you hit a ball hard it’s right at somebody, but that’s just crying sour milk and all that stuff,” manager Ron Gardenhire said. “You just have to play through it and we’re trying. Today is one of those days when everything feels good. We made it happen, though.”