Byron Buxton goes long, but Twins fall short against Rockies

Byron Buxton kept the Twins' home run streak alive Tuesday. Unfortunately, so did the Twins' pitching staff.

Buxton's blast to center field in the fourth inning allowed the 2017 Twins to tie their 1979 brethren with 16 consecutive games with a home run. But Gerardo Perra connected off Phil Hughes and Charlie Blackmon off Tyler Duffey, and that combination produced a 7-3 victory for the Colorado Rockies at Target Field.

There's a home run streak at work there, too: Twins pitchers have given up a long ball in 10 consecutive home games, which isn't a record — heck, it's the sixth time they've reached double digits in Target Field's eight seasons — but it is troubling. The Twins, who gave up the most home runs in the AL last season, are in the middle of the pack this year, but their home park continues to be a launching pad: Only at Angels Ballpark have visiting players connected more often than at Target Field.

It was well-placed singles that were Hughes' undoing Tuesday, though, with Ian Desmond's reach-out-and-poke-one down the right field line becoming the hit that ended his night in the sixth inning. "It was in the location I wanted, down and away," Hughes said of the 3-and-2 fastball. "He just put it where nobody was."

Still, Hughes pitched reasonably well, especially considering his relative lack of weapons. His changeup wasn't working, and he couldn't place his curve where he wanted, leaving him with only fastballs.

"I had to rely on cutters and four-seamers," Hughes said. "It's tough when you can only lean on two of your four pitches."

It was a cutter that Parra walloped in the fourth inning, blasting it beyond the seating area in right field and bouncing onto the plate behind.

"But [Hughes] gave us a chance," Twins manager Paul Molitor said. "His numbers aren't great as a whole, but if you think about the games he's pitched, all except for one we've been in the game."

When Hughes left, though, Duffey relieved, and after getting two groundouts, surrendered a double that right fielder Robbie Grossman bobbled, allowing another run to score. Blackmon followed with a home run to right-center.

That was all the runs that Colorado would need, because lefthander Kyle Freeland held the Twins to 2-for-9 hitting with runners in scoring position, and Minnesota managed only one hit after the fourth inning. Jason Castro and Brian Dozier each contributed RBI doubles in the second inning off Freeland, and Buxton, in a 1-for-14 slump his last four games, connected off Freeland with a drive over the center field fence in the fourth inning.

Before the game, Buxton told Molitor he had realized that he had been trying to pull the ball too much again, as he did in his April slump, so the home run was an encouraging sign.

"He got a pitch out over and instead of yanking it, he kept it in the middle of the field," Molitor said. "You try to build on the positives."

Here's another: That's 16 consecutive games with a home run, and it's carried the Twins to a 10-6 record over that span. Not that Molitor expects the Twins to turn into the 1927 Yankees.

"It's just one of those strange things that happen in baseball," Molitor said of the home run streak. "We've got a lot of guys who have contributed to that streak, including [shortstop Jorge] Polanco the other day. But we're still all about trying to take good at-bats."