CLEVELAND -- The current state of the Twins’ offense doesn’t leave much margin for error in the field or on the mound. Which makes it all the more consequential when both command and defense falter for an inning, as they did on Saturday night.

That rough frame was when an otherwise effective Sonny Gray suddenly lost the strike zone and a pair of defensive miscues from first baseman Donovan Solano and third baseman Jose Miranda paved the way for three Cleveland runs. Those self-inflicted obstacles gave life to a slumping Cleveland offense, as a late Steven Kwan homer pushed the Guardians to a 4-3 victory at Progressive Field.

“I just lost the zone there for one inning, and it pretty much was the story,” Gray said.

Outside of that fourth inning, Gray was again spectacular, showing off the form that had him atop the MLB-wide ERA leaderboard entering the game. Across the first, second, third and fifth innings, only one ball left the infield, and only one batter reached base. The offense got two big swings from Max Kepler and Carlos Correa, who accounted for all three runs.

But in that decisive fourth, it was clear that something was off. Gray opened the frame with seven consecutive balls, putting Amed Rosario aboard with a leadoff walk, and when José Ramírez knocked a 3-1 pitch to first, Solano couldn’t pick the sharp grounder, putting runners on the corners.

Another miscue followed, as Miranda stumbled while fielding Josh Naylor’s chopper to third. As the ball got away, Ramírez saw that nobody was covering third and took the extra base around a swipe tag attempt from Miranda, who also made two other misplays in a tough defensive effort at the hot corner.

Making matters worse, Twins manager Rocco Baldelli earned his second ejection of the season after unsuccessfully arguing that Ramírez had left the baseline.

“I don’t think I’ve had a lefty ground ball this year, so they’re always different than righties,” Miranda said. “But, you know, I’ve got to learn from this and keep improving.”

All that led to the action snowballing around Gray, who was tagged with two pitch timer violations as he walked two more batters -- Gabriel Arias and No. 9 hitter Myles Straw -- including the latter with the bases loaded. He lost the feel for his cutter that inning, he said, leaving him without the new pitch that he’d relied on throughout his first six starts.

“​​If I'd get myself in situations throughout the year, first and third with one out or no out or this and that or runner on base, I've been able to make a big pitch and get out of the inning,” Gray said. “And today, even if it felt like you made a pitch, they just put a ball where we weren't, and then another walk.”

The Twins would prefer not to be a homer-first offense this season, but that’s where they are, given their offensive struggles on this road trip, and they did get a pair of timely long balls.

A two-run shot by Kepler in the sixth was the 16th of his career at Progressive Field, second-most among all active players behind Miguel Cabrera. And Correa’s game-tying solo homer in the seventh erased the damage against Gray, the latest in a series of hard-hit balls that Correa hopes will mark a turnaround from another slow start at the plate -- though that was immediately undone by Kwan’s two-out blast off Jorge Alcala in the bottom of the frame.

Correa attributes another season of early struggles to the disruption in his offseason routine and work, itself caused by worrying about the potential for injuries while unsigned.

“Having two offseasons [of free agency] back to back, that’s kind of why the slow starts are what they are,” Correa said. “But that’s no excuse. I’m a good enough player to make adjustments sooner. One thing you guys know is that I’m going to keep working and doing my early work and taking my extra reps to help the team win games. I’ve been feeling a lot better as of late.”

Still, the Twins’ pitching staff has mostly been effective enough to make up for the lack of production from Correa and his fellow hitters -- but as shown by Saturday’s effort and those in their two losses against the White Sox earlier this road trip, there’s not much wiggle room, making innings like those feel much more impactful.