The ball got past first baseman Josh Naylor in a hurry, traveling all the way into the right field corner as Alex Kirilloff motored along the bases. Initially ruled an error, the call was overturned during the early innings of Saturday’s game.

Minnesota Twins’ Carlos Correa, right, scores on a triple hit by Alex Kirilloff during the first inning of a baseball game against the Cleveland Guardians, Saturday, April 6, 2024, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Matt Krohn)

It both put Alex Kirilloff in the Twins’ history books and nearly saved the club from going in for the wrong reasons. Kirilloff’s third triple in as many games made him the fifth player in club history to accomplish the feat. It also meant that the Twins weren’t hitless entering the ninth inning of a 3-1 loss to the Cleveland Guardians on Saturday at Target Field.

The Twins may have finished the day with just two hits — Kirilloff’s brought home Carlos Correa from first and accounted for their only run of the game and Correa singled with two outs in the ninth inning — but don’t confuse that with a lack of opportunities. They had plenty.

And just like on Thursday in the series opener against Cleveland, they were unable to do anything with their chances, beginning in the first inning when Kirilloff was left standing on third base. The Twins had runners on in seven of nine innings, finishing the day 0 for 11 with runners in scoring position, which was part of an 0-for-24 streak stretching back to Wednesday. They left 11 runners on base.

In three straight innings, the Twins put on two runners to begin the frame. Once, an incredible shovel pass from second baseman Andrés Giménez to shortstop Brayan Rocchio helped stunt their rally. In another inning, a ball hit at 100.6 miles per hour off Kirilloff’s bat went right at Giménez, who started a double play.

After racking up 15 strikeouts in their last game on Thursday, the Twins added another 14 on Saturday, some of which were looking. The Twins showed particular frustration with home plate umpire Brennan Miller’s strike zone, to the point where hitting coach David Popkins was tossed for arguing from the dugout.

Yet another early-season slow day at the plate meant that Joe Ryan’s solid six-inning start went for naught.

Ryan pitched quite well, the only blemish on his day a three-run home run to catcher David Fry on a sweeper that stayed over the heart of the zone and did not get the desired movement. But both Ryan and the bullpen — Jorge Alcala threw two scoreless innings and Jay Jackson one — more than did their part to keep the Twins close on a day their bats were cold.

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