DETROIT -- Tigers chairman and CEO Christopher Ilitch was on hand for first-round Draft pick Riley Greene’s introduction Friday afternoon at Comerica Park, and he said he follows Tigers prospects “a little more closely than perhaps I should.”

Considering how much the franchise’s future relies on its farm system -- and how the current season has gone -- it’s hard to blame him. But he also made a point to compliment what he has seen in the Major League club.

“When I see Gardy and I see how our players, the passion, how they’re competing night in and night out, how they’re working through the adversity [of injuries], it makes me proud,” Ilitch said. “Our guys are competing to their abilities and they’re fighting hard. I appreciate that and I support Gardy and I support our players.”

They’re battling, but games like Friday’s 6-3 defeat to the Twins are offering little consolation as the losses pile up.

• Box score

“We’re frustrated when we lose,” catcher John Hicks said. “When we lose, I don’t know if it’s because we’re a hit away. I mean, a loss is a loss.”

The Tigers battled against a Twins squad that is running away with the American League Central, now 13-5 in divisional games. That’s what the Tigers are eventually trying to be: a team that brought young talent along, let them develop, then supplement that young core with veteran additions to make a run.

The Tigers are barely into the first phase of bringing up prospects. Their top ones are some ways away. They’re at least a couple years away from the veteran additions part. But for much of Friday night, they battled, until a familiar face from their glory years came back to haunt them.

Minnesota’s biggest veteran addition, Nelson Cruz, is all too familiar around Comerica Park, as is the sight of him putting a ball into the seats. As he rounded the bases on his eighth-inning home run Friday night, putting the Twins in front for a 6-3 win, he brought back bad memories of Tigers contenders past, while refreshing Joe Jimenez’s struggles of the present.

Cruz has 12 career regular-season home runs at Comerica Park, the most of any ballpark where he hasn’t previously been a division foe. That doesn’t count his three home runs in the postseason, including the go-ahead homer for the Orioles in Game 3 of the 2014 American League Division Series, the Tigers’ most recent playoff game.

Friday’s home run didn’t ruin any October dreams, but it spoiled a quality effort from Tigers starter and All-Star candidate Matthew Boyd. Though Boyd has decent numbers against the Twins for his career, the home run ball has hurt him; solo shots from Mitch Garver and C.J. Cron gave Minnesota seven home runs over Boyd’s last three meetings. Despite the long ball, Boyd survived for seven innings of three-run ball Friday with eight strikeouts, several of them in big spots where he could’ve been in fear of a home run.

When back-to-back two-out singles in the sixth inning brought Cruz to the plate, Boyd went after him -- a 94 mph fastball up in the zone, a slider in the dirt and another slider at the knees. Cruz swung and missed at all three, part of Boyd’s 20 swinging strikes -- the most by a pitcher against the Twins this season.

“They’re leading the league in home runs. They swing early, they swing often,” Boyd said. “You can use that to your advantage. They got me a few times tonight, but that’s the nature of it.”

When the Tigers sent Boyd back to the mound for the seventh, he faced Garver again. On Boyd’s 108th and final pitch of the night, he threw a 94 mph fastball in the zone past Garver, striking him out on a foul tip.

By contrast, a pair of fourth-inning doubles from Miguel Cabrera and Ronny Rodriguez comprised all of Detroit’s extra-base hits, forcing the Tigers to get creative for runs. Cabrera, aching right knee and all, challenged Byron Buxton’s arm by tagging up from second on Brandon Dixon’s fly ball. He beat the throw before scoring on Rodriguez’s liner to left.

Cabrera had an abundance of energy all day, cheering on Greene’s batting practice from the dugout Friday afternoon before chatting up Twins players during their pregame batting practice. He churned out three hits Friday night and had a chance to tie it in the ninth with two on and two outs. His line drive off Twins closer Blake Parker had a 109.3 mph exit velocity, the hardest ball the Tigers hit all night. It went directly to second baseman Jonathan Schoop for the final out.

“It’s great to see these guys fight back,” said bench coach Steve Liddle, who took over as manager after Ron Gardenhire’s 81st career ejection. “We had the tying run at the plate and Miggy hits a laser to end the game. We made it interesting, for sure.”

It means little in the standings, where the Tigers suffered their third straight loss. It means something to the on-field product, after dormant offense in the two losses to the Rays. It also means something to Ilitch, who was likely tracking top prospect Casey Mize’s latest effective start Friday night for Double-A Erie, but who wants to see progress in Detroit as he waits for prospects to arrive and the rebuild to yield results.

“The most important thing for me, and one of my key responsibilities, is to ensure that our plan is progressing each and every year,” Ilitch said. “We need to see progress. If we’re not seeing progress, then something has to change. But I continue to be very, very supportive of [general manager] Al Avila and Gardy, because I do see tremendous progress, and I think we can all see the progress if you look up and down throughout our Minor League system, and even some of the guys who have made it up here to the big leagues, and even some of the character that we see on display.”