The Twins opened well, but the Tigers closed better.
After the Twins threw seven scoreless innings at Detroit, the Tigers jumped on the Twins bullpen in the eighth and held on for a 4-2 victory Tuesday night to open the second-to-last series of the season at Target Field.
Trevor Hildenberger gave up three hits and walk in the eighth, including RBI singles by Nick Castellanos and Niko Goodrum. He was replaced by Trevor May, who gave up a two-run double to James McCann.
Hildenberger, who has earned most of the Twins' saves since Fernando Rodney was traded, has given up runs in five consecutive outings, posting a 29.73 ERA over that stretch. Manager Paul Molitor said Tuesday he will try different pitchers in different roles this week. So he inserted Hildenberger in the eighth instead of the ninth.
"We talked to the guys about doing some things differently this week, giving some people different opportunities to get outs in different slots," Molitor said. "It's just one of those things."
Jake Cave hit an RBI single in the bottom of the inning, but Detroit got out of the eighth when Logan Forsythe flied out to center against Alex Wilson with the bases loaded.
For the second outing in a row against the Tigers, righthander Kohl Stewart and his opener, lefthander Gabriel Moya, worked it perfectly. Moya pitched a scoreless first, and after the Twins scored in the bottom of the inning on a Joe Mauer single and Jorge Polanco double, Stewart followed with six shutout innings.
Stewart, the fourth overall pick in the 2013 draft, looked composed and in control, lowering his ERA to 3.68. He gave up two hits and struck out five Tuesday. The 23-year-old has a 1.33 ERA over 20⅓ innings in four appearances this month, all as the "primary pitcher."