MINNEAPOLIS -- The Twins had to cut short the long-awaited reunion of Carlos Correa, Byron Buxton and Royce Lewis on a baseball diamond after only four innings -- and the only silver lining of another trying day at Target Field was that it at least had nothing to do with health.

Not that silver linings do much for the Twins at this point in the season.

The promise of Correa’s return was entirely blunted by the depleted pitching staff continuing to spring leaks in a 11-1 blowout loss to the noncontending Reds on Saturday at Target Field, driven by a nine-run fourth inning for Cincinnati that highlighted the struggles of the Minnesota bullpen to lean on the relievers whom the Twins hoped would emerge down the stretch.

On Friday, it was Jorge Alcala who took the brunt of the damage of a six-run seventh inning that turned a close game into a laughter. On Saturday, Louie Varland’s second huge blowup in three outings continued the rockiness of another transition to relief as the Twins dropped the first two games of what looked, on paper, to be a series they needed to win.

“We have to find ourselves as a team,” manager Rocco Baldelli said. “We’ve been looking over the last month as far as who we are and how we’re going to do this.”

At the very least, the Twins didn’t lose ground in the tightening Wild Card chase on Saturday, as the Tigers also lost, 4-2, to keep Minnesota’s lead for the third Wild Card berth at 2 1/2 games over Detroit. The Twins appear all but out of the AL Central race at this point, having fallen 6 1/2 games behind the division-leading Guardians.

Much of the talk before Saturday’s game revolved around the Twins’ need to use what time remains this season to make sure Buxton and Correa acclimate back to seeing big league pitching after both returned from extended injuries without rehab assignments.

Both looked fine. A hobbled Buxton still posted an elite 31.3 ft/sec sprint speed on the RBI infield single that gave the Twins their only run, while Correa used his strong right arm to complete a tricky double play and lined a 103.7 mph double to right field in his first game since July 12.

But the Twins might well need to use that time to figure out their depleted bullpen, especially given the continued struggles of both Alcala and Varland, who could be pivot points for this team, especially as the offense has struggled to score runs amid this 8-17 skid since Aug. 17.

“[Varland is] still going to be a guy that we’re going to have to go to in important spots, to keep the game where it’s at, to keep leads,” Baldelli said. “So I don’t want to let this outing deter him.”

While Alcala emerged as one of the club’s setup men in the first half, struggles with homers have given him a 9.45 ERA and seven long balls allowed in 14 appearances since Aug. 4, including the back-breaking grand slam to Elly De La Cruz on Friday.

Varland was a key bullpen addition down the stretch last season and into the playoffs, and the Twins counted on him again to reprise that role this year -- but he has now been tagged for 15 earned runs in 5 1/3 innings in this dedicated stint as a reliever.

“I’m not totally sure, to be honest with you,” Varland said of his recent struggle. “It’s happened twice now. It’s not ideal. It’s a really bad feeling to have [it] happen and it’s not good.”

Perhaps the pitching staff is just running on fumes, decimated by the key injuries to Brock Stewart, Joe Ryan and Chris Paddack, coupled with the lack of impact of any of the club’s five major external bullpen acquisitions.

But the Twins have to rely on that ‘pen because of their three rookies in the rotation, including a seemingly fatiguing Simeon Woods Richardson, whose velocity was down again as he was pulled after three-plus innings on Saturday. It marked his fourth consecutive outing in which he didn’t complete five innings.

How do the Twins overcome that pressure and get back to playing looser instead of “tight,” as Baldelli noted the feeling has been?

“We have to get back toward that mindset of taking it rather than giving it up,” Kyle Farmer said.

And how do they do that?

“I think you've got to come back tomorrow and win a game,” Farmer said.