MINNEAPOLIS -- Blue Jays center fielder Kevin Kiermaier felt discomfort in his lower back early in Saturday’s game and was pulled for precautionary measures, with Daulton Varsho moving over from left field for the three-time Gold Glove winner.

As is customary in baseball, the ball would find Varsho, who figured prominently in Toronto’s 9-7 loss to the Twins at Target Field.

Varsho, playing three hours from his hometown in Marshfield, Wis., with family and friends in attendance, made two leaping attempts at home runs in the fifth inning, with both balls falling out of his glove for homers. Later, as the Blue Jays tried to mount a comeback, Varsho hit a two-run homer.

“You always kind of wish you could go back and make those two plays and, obviously, it’s a total different ballgame,” Varsho said. “But it’s in the past, just got to keep grinding through and understand that this is baseball.”

Toronto lost for the 10th time in 13 games and couldn’t follow up Friday’s 3-1 win against the Twins. Blue Jays starter Chris Bassitt allowed seven runs on nine hits over four innings in a surprising offensive outburst for each team.

Minnesota started Pablo López, against whom the Blue Jays scored four runs in 5 2/3 innings. Bo Bichette fell a double shy of the cycle and had four RBIs. Cavan Biggio homered in the fourth after he entered the game as a pinch-hitter for Kiermaier in the third inning. Varsho added his eighth homer of the season in the ninth inning as Toronto scored three runs before Twins reliever Brock Stewart secured the win.

Kiermaier was pulled for precautionary reasons after feeling discomfort on a throw from the outfield. Manager John Schneider said Kiermaier was receiving treatment and would be re-evaluated before Sunday’s game.

“At this point with [Kiermaier] and how important he is to us, [we] want him to be safe and make sure he didn’t make anything worse,” Schneider said.

His departure put Varsho in the spotlight.

Varsho has played more innings in center field than anywhere else during his career, but he’s spent most of his time in left field in his first year with the Blue Jays.

In a tie game, Minnesota’s Willi Castro hit a deep drive to center field with a runner on and no outs in the fifth. Varsho went back on the ball and got into position, but as he leaped and hit the wall, the ball bounced out of his glove and onto the berm beyond the center-field fence.

Two pitches later, Matt Wallner hit a ball into the bullpens in left-center field that Varsho jumped for. As the ball got over the wall, Varsho momentarily had it in his glove.

“Both of them are probably catchable, I would say, in a sense,” Varsho said. “The first one, obviously, was probably still in play and bounced in my glove. The second one was obviously over the wall and tried to bring it back. It just didn’t happen.”

Schneider appreciated the effort of his fill-in center fielder.

“It seems like where we’re at,” Schneider said. “You can’t fault the effort. He goes back there. He’s one of the best outfielders in baseball and anytime you get around the wall, it’s tough. You’ve got to brace for impact. You can’t fault the effort, man. He was right there on both of them.”

Schneider has preached doing the “little things” as the team tries to break from its recent struggles. Varsho’s two near-misses gave the Twins a 7-4 lead after Toronto had come back to tie the game at 4.

As you may expect, Twins manager Rocco Baldelli -- a former MLB outfielder himself -- did not sympathize with Varsho.

"No, I don’t [sympathize with Varsho]," Baldelli said. "He’s a heck of a player. He’s trying to make plays out there. Anyone who has played in the outfield for a while has had plays like that that are just out of your grasp. I’m glad as hell he missed them.

"They’re tough. They're not plays that are made all the time. I don’t have any sympathy, but I know exactly how that play can turn out and it can go either way. The swings of the runs and the emotions that go along with it are huge. Probably on his end -- frustrating. But they were good swings by our guys."

Also, for the second straight game, the Blue Jays had a baserunner thrown out -- when Brandon Belt tried to advance to second on a ball he hit to the right-field wall leading off the sixth.

“Every little thing matters, I think, no matter what the score is,” Schneider said. “The out on the basepaths there with Brandon -- we’re not expecting Brandon to win any sprinting contests, you know what I mean? You’re trying to make a play and [Matt] Wallner made a perfect throw.”