MINNEAPOLIS -- The Twins still have a lot of learning to do about their pitching staff as they enter the stretch run of the season in a tight divisional race, in which they now hold third place in the AL Central -- two games behind the first-place Guardians, and one game behind the second-place Royals.

Foremost are two issues that flared up meaningfully as part of their 6-1 loss to the Cardinals in Friday’s series opener at Target Field. Firstly, what can they do about David Festa’s marked issues facing the lineup a second time through? Secondly -- and perhaps more importantly -- what’s behind this sudden rough patch for reliever Jorge Alcala?

Those were far from the only troubles in Friday’s defeat, their fourth in five games, as part of which the Twins squandered a bases-loaded opportunity in the second inning before Cardinals pitching also retired 19 of the final 20 Twins hitters -- but they also present the more pressing trends in the bigger picture.

While Festa entered the game on a run of five mostly effective outings, he struggled with a climbing pitch count and deep plate appearances as he lasted 3 2/3 frames and was pulled after allowing three runs, including two in the fourth inning.

“The strikeouts are there and stuff like that,” said Festa, the No. 88 prospect in baseball. “I just need to be more efficient.”

Notably, Festa was hitless and allowed only a Matt Carpenter walk in his first trip through the Cardinals’ lineup, but allowed a single, two doubles and a walk among the seven hitters he faced in his incomplete second time through, another data point in what has already been brought up several times in Festa’s young career as a potential challenge for him to overcome.

Hitters against Festa, first time through: .134/.194/.179 (.374 OPS)
Hitters against Festa, second time through: .393/.456/.787 (1.243 OPS)

With that said, Festa has completed five innings in five of his eight appearances this season, and had pitched to a 2.38 ERA with 31 strikeouts in 22 2/3 innings across his previous five outings before Friday. Both Festa and manager Rocco Baldelli also indicated that they didn’t necessarily see this outing as a continuation of the trend.

Festa dealt with deep plate appearances as part of his 28-pitch third inning, and Baldelli felt this outcome was more attributed to Festa’s poor command than to the Cardinals' hitters seeing him better the second time.

“You look back earlier in the year, the Detroit outing when I went second and third time around, they hammered balls off me,” Festa said. “Tonight, I thought they just did a great job of working at-bats. Even the first time around, I don’t think I was efficient enough.”

In any case, the Twins can manage Festa thanks to the upcoming Sept. 1 roster expansion -- but more urgently, they need Alcala to get right.

With Brock Stewart lost for the rest of the season due to arthroscopic shoulder surgery, Justin Topa’s comeback bid continually derailed by knee and arm issues, and Caleb Thielbar having struggled for much of the season, the Twins have had to rely heavily on Alcala as a reliable bridge reliever to hand leads to Griffin Jax and Jhoan Duran at the end of games.

While Alcala’s considerable success early this season has been a needed and welcome surprise, as he carried a 1.51 ERA through July 20, he has been considerably less reliable in the last month, with an 8.25 ERA across his past 12 games, culminating in his five-run blowup in Texas on Sunday.

Homers against Alcala, first 32 appearances: 0
Homers against Alcala, last 12 appearances: 6

One issue that might come to mind is that Alcala -- who has missed considerable time with arm issues since 2021 -- might be wearing down, considering he has now thrown more innings this season (47 2/3) than in ‘22 and ‘23 combined (19 2/3).

But Baldelli refuted that notion, and at least for now, the Twins will have to continue relying on the 29-year-old until they’re perhaps able to convert Louie Varland back to a relief role down the stretch to spell some of those situations.

“I'm not worried about it,” Baldelli said. “I think there are natural ups and downs that both pitchers and position players feel.”