BALTIMORE — It was a running gag all spring in Fort Myers. The Twins' spring schedule somehow worked out so that the Orioles were always the scheduled opponent on Phil Hughes' day to pitch, and pitching coach Neil Allen and manager Paul Molitor wanted to avoid letting their season-opening opponent get too comfortable with seeing the righthander.

So Hughes pitched minor-league games to avoid Baltimore, once took a long bus ride to Clearwater on a split-squad day, and generally joked about keeping his stuff a secret from the Orioles. He even joked about being surprised he pitched in Washington last Friday, given that the Twins and Nationals face each other again later this month.

Tonight, we find out if keeping Hughes under wraps helped.

Hughes takes the mound for his 2016 debut after a strong spring — he posted a 3.43 ERA in five major-league starts in Florida — and in hopes that the Orioles don't know what's coming. Of course, as a former Yankee, Hughes has pitched against the Orioles more than any teams except the Blue Jays and Red Sox, 23 games and 110 innings worth, so there aren't actually any surprises. But maybe not having a preview this spring will help.

"He put the work in. We all know he came to camp ready to go," Molitor said. "He looked like he had better endurance and was more comfortable, pitch-to-pitch, as he got stretched out. A lot of good signs in how he threw the baseball down there."

The Twins faced tonight's Baltimore starter, Ubaldo Jimenez, twice this spring, and scored one run in 6 1/3 innings against him.

Hughes will have a moderately different lineup behind him, with Danny Santana, the Twins' hottest hitter at the end of camp, moving into the No. 2 spot in the batting order. That moves Joe Mauer, Miguel Sano, Trevor Plouffe and Eddie Rosario down a spot, and benches Byung Ho Park for a night. In addition, John Ryan Murphy replaces Kurt Suzuki behind the plate.

Molitor said he let Park know ahead of time that he was going to sit this one out, and that it has nothing to do with the results of his first two games — 1-for-6 with a walk. "His at-bats were fine. When you try to get people in [the lineup], someone's going to have to come out," the Twins manager said. "I made sure to tell him, don't read anything into the scenario the lineup produced today."

The Orioles are making similar adjustments, giving Adam Jones the night off against Hughes (he's 9-for-54, or .167, against the Twins' starter), and moving Manny Machado down to the third spot, with Rule 5 rookie Joey Rickard taking the leadoff spot.

Here are the lineups for tonight's finale of the Twins' season-opening series:

TWINS

Dozier 2B

Santana RF

Mauer 1B

Sano DH

Plouffe 3B

Rosario LF

Escobar SS

Murphy C

Buxton CF

Hughes RHP

ORIOLES

Rickard CF

Reimold LF

Machado 3B

Davis 1B

Trumbo RF

Hardy SS

Alvarez DH

Schoop 2B

Joseph C

Jimenez RHP