DETROIT -- The miniature stuffed toy horse showed up in the Tigers’ clubhouse at the start of their homestand Tuesday. Niko Goodrum found it at a store in Houston, thought it was a fun item, bought it and had it delivered to Detroit. By midweek, the horse had shoes, a saddle, a Tigers floppy hat on its head and a name -- Lil’ Ron.

Unlike the ceramic goose of last year, or the good-luck charms of years past, the horse has brought no luck in terms of wins. And after Friday’s 13-5 loss to the Twins, the Tigers continue to be befuddled by their struggles at Comerica Park, which could end up being historic.

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“This year has been tough, probably as tough as I’ve gone through, especially at home,” manager Ron Gardenhire said earlier this week. “We just haven’t played well at home.”

While Detroit wasn’t coming off a successful road trip, its 3-7 record at Tampa Bay, Houston and Minnesota -- playoff teams all -- included much more competitive games than in past weeks, even in defeat. Gardenhire badly wanted to take that play into this homestand.

“I know it’s frustrating for our fans, and it’s frustrating for us, too,” Gardenhire said Friday, “because we came back playing pretty well. And we’re playing good teams. That’s part of it.”

The Tigers are 0-4 on the homestand, outscored by a 29-8 margin as the Indians and Twins take their battle for the American League Central into the final month. The Tigers have long since been eliminated from contention, but they’ll have history to avoid in the waning weeks, especially at home.

The Tigers are 17-47 at Comerica Park, not including their suspended game from May against the A’s that will be resumed next week in Oakland with the Tigers trailing. With 16 games remaining, Detroit needs five more wins to avoid becoming the first team in modern Major League history to lose 60 home games in a season. The 1939 St. Louis Browns, the first Major League club managed by former Toledo Mud Hens skipper Fred Haney, currently hold the Major League record with 59.

Four of the Tigers’ remaining home games are against the Orioles, and that series could determine the top pick in next year’s MLB Draft. Three more games are against the rebuilding White Sox. But Detroit has six more home games against Minnesota, which could well need all of them to hold off Cleveland. The Yankees also visit Detroit for three games in September in their chase for the best record in the league and home-field advantage throughout the postseason.

If the Tigers are going to avoid home history, they’ll need to play better. From the first batter Friday, when Max Kepler escaped an 0-2 count to draw a walk from Tigers starter Edwin Jackson, the Twins' offense was rolling, without the need for home runs. Jorge Polanco’s single off an 0-2 pitch started the Twins on a roll of three consecutive hits, followed by a Willi Castro error.

Jackson’s first out came against the sixth batter of the inning; Luis Arraez's groundout scored the Twins’ fourth run.

“Obviously I didn’t feel like I had my best stuff,” Jackson said, “but I came out of the gate and wanted to be in attack mode. I was able to do that, but once you get guys on with 0-2 walks, you allow this team to do things.”

Between 70 pitches over 2 1/3 innings from Jackson, a Jake Rogers passed ball for another run and a handful of other miscues, the Tigers faced a large deficit early. Detroit’s offense fought back with RBI doubles from Dawel Lugo and Rogers and solo homers from John Hicks and Ronny Rodriguez, giving the Tigers five runs at home for just the second time in nine games, but they couldn’t get out of catch-up mode.

Castro and Rogers are recent callups learning on the fly in the big leagues. So is right fielder Travis Demeritte, who lost a ball in the lights for a Nelson Cruz single before C.J. Cron’s three-run homer pushed the Twins into double digits in the fourth inning. Harold Castro and Victor Reyes collided on a Cron fly ball in center field that fell for a third-inning double.

“Sloppy, and I don’t get it,” Gardenhire said. “We have to keep working. That’s all we can do.”

The game was about two hours old at that point as Jackson, reliever Matt Hall and Twins starter Kyle Gibson plodded through high pitch counts and long at-bats. Though Hicks and Rodriguez hit opposite-field homers, with Hicks clanking a drive off the right-field foul pole for his 11th home run of the year, the Tigers couldn’t assemble a sustained rally to get back into the game.

The Tigers allowed double-digit runs in a game for the 16th time this season. Twelve of them have been at home, including all five times they’ve allowed 13 or more runs in a game. Likewise, seven of the 13 shutouts they’ve suffered have happened at home.

The Tigers will have limited help from September callups, but not their top prospects from Double-A Erie, who will head to the Arizona Fall League or instructional ball after the SeaWolves’ season ends, either next week or in the playoffs. Most of the help will be on the pitching side. If the Tigers are going to finish the season stronger, the improvement will have to come from within.