DETROIT — Byron Buxton is back in the Twins' lineup today, and the pitcher had something to do with it.

No, not Jordan Zimmermann, the Tigers' pitcher on the mound today whom Buxton has never faced. If anything, Molitor considered waiting another day to return the slumping outfielder to the field, since the Twins will be facing a youngster making his major league debut in Chicago righthander Dylan Covey.

But the Twins' starter this afternoon is Phil Hughes, and that means fly balls figure to be skying toward the outfield. In a spacious outfield like Comerica Park's, the ability to cover ground might be decisive today. And nobody covers ground like Buxton — he had a career-high eight putouts in Hughes' last start.

"The ball's going to go in the air today," Molitor said, "so hopefully we catch the ones we're supposed to."

He wouldn't mind Buxton hitting a few, too, anything to snap out of the 2-for-29 grind he's stuck in. Buxton's speed gives him a good chance to reach base if he puts the ball in play, but he has struck out 17 times already, a total that leads the majors.

Hughes' presence means playing time for another Twin, too: catcher Chris Gimenez. Molitor said again that it's mostly coincidental that the backup catcher has worked nearly all of the righthander's starts, including spring training. But it made sense today, at the tail end of the road trip, with a 10-day homestand coming up, to break up Castro's workload.

It's not easy, though, Molitor noted. Castro is batting .316, is tied for the major-league lead with nine walks, and has been a surprisingly big presence in the middle of the Twins' batting order.

"You want to try to find ways to keep him as fresh and strong as you can, [but] you're tempted to play him a lot when he's swinging well," Molitor said. "I probably didn't think about him being somewhere close to the middle for us when we signed him, but the way it's shaped up so far, he's getting a chance to get some important at-bats in the five- or six-hole."

The Twins can salvage a split of their six-game trip with a win today, which would also break their nine-game losing streak in April games in Detroit. The game won't be televised in the Twin Cities.

Here are the lineups for the finale of the road trip:

TWINS

Dozier 2B

Grossman DH

Mauer 1B

Sano 3B

Kepler RF

Polanco SS

Gimenez C

Rosario LF

Buxton CF

Hughes RHP

TIGERS

Romine 2B

Castellanos 3B

Cabrera 1B

V. Martinez DH

Upton LF

Collins RF

McCann C

Jones CF

Iglesias SS

Zimmermann RHP