MINNEAPOLIS _ The Twins opened well, but the Tigers closed better.
After the Twins threw seven scoreless innings at Detroit on Tuesday night, the Tigers jumped on the Twins bullpen in the eighth and held on for a 4-2 victory to begin the second-to-last series of the season at Target Field.
Trevor Hildenberger gave up three hits and walk in the eighth inning, including RBI singles by Nick Castellanos and Niko Good�rum. He was replaced by Trevor May, who gave up a two-run double to right to James McCann.
Hildenberger has given up runs in five consecutive outings while posting a 29.73 ERA. The right-hander has earned most of the Twins' saves since they traded closer Fernando Rodney to Oakland, so it was notable that he was called upon in the eighth inning Tuesday with the team holding a one-run lead.
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 consecutive outing vs. the Tigers, Stewart and his opener, left-hander Gabriel Moya, worked it perfectly. Moya pitched a scoreless first. After the Twins scored in the bottom of the inning on Joe Mauer's single and Jorge Polanco's double, Stewart followed with six shutout innings.
Stewart, the fourth overall pick in the 2013 draft, looked composed and in control in lowering his ERA to 3.68. He gave up two hits and struck out five Tuesday. With the opener strategy, it turns a reliever loose in the first inning _ which has the highest ERA of any inning. The primary pitcher can pitch into the seventh inning while facing an opponent's top three hitters only twice, provided he is effective.
Stewart's past two starts have been against the Tigers, and he's thrown 12 shutout innings at them while giving up five hits and striking out 10. That's after he gave up six runs on seven hits and five walks over 11 innings in his first two major league starts in August, also against Detroit.
