MINNEAPOLIS -- The Twins, at least, got some good injury news when the medical staff deemed Carlos Correa good to go ahead of Friday night’s series opener against the Blue Jays, with Joey Gallo later joining him as a late-game substitute.

The rest of the reinforcements can’t arrive quickly enough.

Correa made an immediate impact in his return from plantar fasciitis and a heel strain by reaching base three times and adding a pair of sparkling defensive plays, while Gallo shrugged off a tight hamstring to walk twice. Even so, the slumping Twins offense stranded 13 baserunners in a 3-1 loss to Toronto at Target Field -- the latest in a seemingly endless array of these well-pitched, low-scoring losses.

“It seems like we're almost winning every game, but we can't finish it,” Correa said. “We have a really good team. We just haven't been able to put those clutch hits together in order to give our pitchers comfortable leads. There's still a lot of season left, but we've got to turn it on here pretty soon.”

The Twins coaxed five walks out of Blue Jays starter Kevin Gausman in 5 1/3 innings and coaxed nine free passes in all, but went 1-for-9 with runners in scoring position to leave their highest total on base in a nine-inning game this season, including baserunners in every inning but the third.

They worked deep counts, took pitches outside the zone and made their opponents work -- but they missed the pitches they wanted to damage, once again walking away empty-handed in another evolution of their recent struggles. That included, of course, another instance of stranding the bases loaded, which wasn’t helped by a borderline strike three call on Michael A. Taylor on what could have been a bases-loaded walk to make it a one-run game.

“There is a way to force the action, too, and it’s to hit a ball hard in fair territory,” manager Rocco Baldelli said. “Are we getting pitches to do that? At some point, we are.”

After Correa missed the final two games of the Giants series due to the left foot issues, he took Thursday’s off-day to recover and woke up feeling ready to play, being cleared late pregame after being tested with ground balls on the field. It was a needed relief for the already injury-depleted Twins, who had no impact answer for losing another infielder until Royce Lewis is eligible to return from the 60-day IL on Monday.

And immediately, Correa made his presence felt to bail out Louie Varland in the first inning, when he fielded a grounder with George Springer on third and one out and saw that Springer was caught in no-man’s-land off the bag. He ran Springer down, made the tag and immediately spun with a strong throw to first base, where batter-runner Vladimir Guerrero Jr. had taken too wide of a turn and was tagged out for an inning-ending double play.

“When I saw [Springer] telling [Guerrero] to go, I knew that was my chance because I knew they were making eye contact,” Correa said. “I went for Springer and right away turned to throw to first because I knew he couldn't be too far. It was more instinctual than anything.”

That’s not to mention another dazzling play in the third, when Correa ranged far to his left on a grounder up the middle, spun, and made a bounce-throw to nab Guerrero by two steps. Factor in the pair of walks that sparked the Twins’ most promising rallies and the opposite-field single, and it was exactly the boost the Twins needed.

“I think he went out there and had, again, solid at-bats, found his way on base,” Baldelli said. “He looked really good defensively. That was a little bit of a late decision today, but I think it turned out to be the right decision.”

Gallo’s return to the field for four innings of defense and a seemingly normal evening on the basepaths and at first base also proved a needed boost -- but, at this point, it still wasn’t enough.

Max Kepler and Jorge Polanco could return in the coming days to provide some needed impact left-handed bats, and Lewis could be a wild card with elite talent and energy if the Twins elect to bring him to Houston to add him to the MLB roster when first eligible.

As Correa said, they’ve got to turn it on pretty soon -- and perhaps, somewhere in all these returns from injury, they’ll find a jolt.