Phil Hughes held the Chicago Cubs to two hits over eight innings, Trevor Plouffe doubled twice and drove in four runs and the Minnesota Twins breezed to a 7-2 victory Friday night to start their interleague series.
Anthony Rizzo homered twice for the Cubs. After his leadoff shot in the fourth, Hughes retired the last 15 batters he faced.
Hughes (5-6) struck out four without a walk for his first win in four turns, a big boost for a pitcher who was Minnesota's best starter last season but has stumbled a bit while trying to recoup some of his velocity.
Brian Dozier and Eddie Rosario had two hits each and scored twice, Eduardo Escobar drove in a run and hit one of six doubles by the Twins, who won for the third straight time after losing 11 of their first 15 games in June. They are 23-12 at home, tied for the best mark in the league with Toronto.
The Twins met Kyle Hendricks (2-3) with three straight singles in the first inning and never stopped.
Hendricks, though, had no help behind him.
Shortstop Starlin Castro let a right-to-him ground ball hit by Plouffe get between his legs with the bases loaded while one run scored. Then, while Castro stared and sulked with the ball still in his glove, Rosario raced home, too. Hendricks flashed Castro an incredulous look, yelling at him to try to get his attention.
Chicago Baseball
Catcher Miguel Montero's throwing error in the sixth led to another run for the Twins.
Hendricks has failed to finish six innings in nine of his 13 starts this year, including his last three turns. He allowed 11 hits and a walk while being charged with six earned runs and striking out only one.
Hughes is a fly ball pitcher, as evidenced by the 16 home runs he has allowed to tie Jered Weaver of the Angels for the league lead. But almost all of the fly balls Friday were hit right at an outfielder. Rosario made a slick running catch to the warning track in right on a drive by Castro to end the seventh.
