Hughes rusty in return, Twins’ rally falls short against Tigers

MINNEAPOLIS The Twins fell behind early and their rally in the late innings fell short in a 5-4 loss to the Tigers on Tuesday. The loss ended the Twins’ four-game winning streak against Detroit.

With right-hander Phil Hughes making his first start since Aug. 9, the Twins found themselves down 3-0 early but tried to rally from a 4-1 deficit in the late innings.

Byron Buxton led off the seventh with a double as Tigers third baseman Nick Castellanos backed up to field the bouncing ball but had it kick under his glove. Aaron Hicks followed with a bunt single down the first base line, putting runners on first and third. Brian Dozier, facing Tigers starter Alfredo Simon, struck out. Reliever Blaine Hardy walked Joe Mauer to bring Miguel Sano to the plate.

Detroit brought in right-hander Drew VerHagen, whose first pitch nearly hit Sano. But Sano swung at VerHagen’s 2-1 offering through the infield for two-run single to close the deficit to 4-3.

With most fans still on their feet after Sano’s single, Trevor Plouffe bounced into a double play his league-leading 27th to end the inning.

The Tigers added a run in the ninth when Austin Romine’s squeeze bunt allowed Tyler Collins to score.

The Twins made it interesting in the ninth when Brian Dozier drew a two-out walk then scored on Joe Mauer’s RBI double. That brought Sano up for a possible encore, but he struck out to end the game.

Bruce Rondon, who threw one pitch that registered 100 miles an hour on the radar gun, picked up his fifth save. But he threw all sliders to Sano.

Victor Martinez and Nick Castellanos hit RBI singles off Hughes in the first as the Tigers took a 2-0 lead. Hughes threw 23 pitches in the first, just 10 of them strikes. He struggled with his curveball and just looked like a rusty pitcher taking the mound after a long layoff. He was reinstated earlier in the day after recovering from a sore back.

Hughes looked much better in the second inning, getting his breaking ball over for strikes and was generally around the plate more. But James McCann doubled and scored on Anthony Gose’s single up the middle as Detroit took a 3-0 lead.

Hughes did not give up a run in the third inning, but endured an 11-pitch encounter with J.D. Martinez. Pitch No. 10 was struck just foul down the right field line, and Martinez struck out on the next pitch. Hughes was replaced by right-hander A.J. Achter after the inning.

Handed a 75 pitch limit, Hughes threw 65 of them over three innings, giving up three runs on six hits and one walk with four strikeouts. He threw first pitch strikes to 12 of the 15 batters he faced, which is pretty good. But he lacked precision.

Under different circumstances, Hughes would have had a nice dinner in Cedar Rapids, Iowa on Tuesday night before pitching for the Kernels on Wednesday in the Midwest League playoffs.

But the Twins were in a hurry to get him back so they could push other starters back in the rotation to keep them fresh for their postseason push.

The long-term gain is that the rest of the rotation can benefit from another day of rest. It was Mike Pelfrey’s day to pitch on Tuesday, but the right-hander was pushed pack to Friday. And they are concerned about how young Tyler Duffey adds to his career-high innings total.

And it potentially could accelerate Hughes’ return to form, depending on what form they are looking for.

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