DETROIT -- After only 86 pitches, Minnesotas Phil Hughes left the game with a shutout in progress. Afterward, he not only endorsed the move, but said he helped his manager make the decision. "Every pitcher has a certain amount of pride. In the seventh, I felt like my stuff and location were deteriorating," Hughes said. "You dont want to give the game away just because youre feeling prideful." Hughes pitched seven innings, and the Twins beat Justin Verlander for the first time in over four years, 2-1 on Friday night. Kurt Suzuki hit a two-run single off Verlander in the seventh. Hughes (4-1) allowed eight hits in his fourth consecutive win, but he was fine letting the bullpen take over for the final two innings. "The catcher and him both said, Hes losing it," Twins manager Ron Gardenhire said. "If a pitcher feels that hes losing it off the ball and starting to misfire, then youve got to take him out of the ballgame. Him being honest there allowed us to get our bullpen up going." Casey Fien pitched the eighth, and Glen Perkins allowed a run in the ninth but held on for his ninth save in 10 chances. Verlander allowed two runs and seven hits in seven innings. He struck out five and walked two. The start of the game was delayed 27 minutes by rain, but the teams played through an emergency alarm that went off in the top of the ninth. The Tigers later said there was a mechanical fire in a janitor closet that was quickly contained and put out. "I almost took off running," Detroit outfielder Torii Hunter joked. "Im thinking biohazardous or something." Players paused briefly, then the game went on. The injury-plagued Twins snapped a three-game losing streak. Star first baseman Joe Mauer sat out a fifth straight game. Hes been dealing with back spasms. Alex Avila hit an RBI double off Perkins with one out in the ninth, but pinch-hitter J.D. Martinez popped out and Rajai Davis struck out to end it. Hughes lost 14 games last season for the New York Yankees, but the right-hander has pitched well after signing with the Twins in the off-season. He struck out Avila with men on first and third in the fourth, and got Miguel Cabrera to fly out with two on and two out in the fifth. Hughes struck out three, and he went a third straight start without a walk. He began this game with 13 straight strikes. "They werent all strikes in the zone. They were hacking," Hughes said. "When youre around the plate and pop a fastball up every now and then, theyre going to be aggressive and swinging at it. Thats kind of what I am. Sometimes it hurts me a little bit if Im around the plate too much, but when I have good stuff, its usually all right." Verlander (4-2) escaped jams in the second and third, but he couldnt retire Suzuki with the game on the line in the seventh. It was his first loss in his last 10 decisions against the Twins. The last time they beat him was April 27, 2010. "Pretty good for the first six innings, but I wasnt great in the seventh," Verlander said. "I had a couple inexcusable pitches. It wasnt that I made mistakes, but I got away from the pitches I wanted to throw." In addition to Mauer, Minnesota is also without outfielder Josh Willingham, who has a left wrist contusion, but the Twins were able to beat the Tigers without any extra-base hits. NOTES: It began to rain hard in the top of the fifth, but there were no more weather delays once the game started. ... Detroits Victor Martinez had his hitting streak snapped at 11 games. ... The Tigers transferred the injury rehab assignment of RHP Luke Putkonen (right elbow) from Class A West Michigan to Triple-A Toledo. ... Detroits Max Scherzer (4-1) faces Minnesotas Kyle Gibson (3-2) on Saturday. 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Robert Newhouse Cowboys Jersey . -- Terry Francona likened the atmosphere at Kauffman Stadium on Tuesday to a playoff game in October.NEW YORK -- California Chrome beat out an idiosyncratic horse racing rule -- by a nose. An only-in-New York equipment ban appeared ready to put a kink in the colts U.S. Triple Crown try at the Belmont Stakes. But the Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes winner was cleared to wear the nasal strip he has worn all through a six-race winning streak that has set him up for a chance at U.S. horse racings 12th Triple Crown. New York racetracks have a rule prohibiting any equipment not specifically approved by stewards, and nasal strips were not on their list. A statement from the New York Racing Association and the states Gaming Commission on Monday said the tracks three stewards unanimously agreed to lift the ban. The strip worn by California Chrome is thought to assist airflow through the nostrils -- something that should come in handy on June 7 for Belmonts grueling run. "It opens up his aiir passage and gives him that little extra oomph that he needs, especially going a mile and a half," trainer Art Sherman said.dddddddddddd "Any time you can have a good air passage that means a lot for these thoroughbreds." Sherman raised the possibility his horse wouldnt run in the Belmont if barred from using a nasal strip. Two years ago, Doug ONeill trained Ill Have Another to victories in the Kentucky Derby and Preakness with the colt wearing a nasal strip. New York officials told ONeill his horse couldnt wear one in the Belmont. The issue became moot when Ill Have Another was scratched the day before the race because of a leg injury. There hasnt been a Triple Crown winner since Affirmed in 1978, and the sports popularity has waned in the nearly four decades since. But it gets a boost every time a horse heads to the Big Apple with a Triple Crown on the line. ' ' '