MINNEAPOLIS -- The Guardians started an important series in Minnesota as well as they possibly could have hoped, scoring four runs in the second inning against Twins starter Kenta Maeda.

The good feelings quickly subsided as Minnesota erased Cleveland’s lead in the bottom half of the inning with a six-run outburst en route to handing the Guardians a 10-6 loss at Target Field.

Starter Xzavion Curry (3-3) allowed six runs over just two innings in the Guardians’ fourth loss in their last six games. Cleveland is still in second place in the American League Central but now trails Minnesota by seven games. The Guardians had held the tiebreaker against the Twins by virtue of their head-to-head records, but the two teams now are tied in the season series, 4-4, with five games left to play this season. The Twins hold the second tiebreaker with the better record within the division.

“When you score four in the second like that, you feel good,” Guardians manager Terry Francona said. “About 10 minutes later, the same thing that [made] you laugh will make you cry.”

Will Brennan opened the scoring with a sacrifice fly, Gabriel Arias had an RBI double and Bo Naylor followed with a two-run homer to straightaway center field off Maeda. After Minnesota took a 6-4 lead, Cleveland answered with a run in the third and added another in the fourth on an RBI double by Steven Kwan.

But the Twins kept adding on, as well.

“They [took advantage of] some mistake pitches,” Naylor said. “But, yeah, that’s baseball. Things like these are going to happen. It’s just a matter of having a short-term memory, pick up the guys that need to be picked up and being ready for the next one.”

Curry, who had started to establish himself in the Guardians' rotation, allowed a career high in runs. Daniel Norris, who had his contract selected from Triple-A Columbus earlier in the day after Noah Syndergaard was designated for assignment on Sunday, followed and allowed four runs in two innings.

“[I] thought I came out in the first inning and attacked,” Curry said. “I even thought I came out in the second inning and attacked, and then just let some pitches get away from me. They got some hits and took advantage of pitches that I did leave in the zone. So, just the execution in that second inning. Just kind of the same old story, you execute those pitches and you kind of get the results you want.”

After the quick start offensively, Cleveland was hitless over the last five innings. Two of the innings were pitched by left-hander Kody Funderburk, 26, who was making his Major League debut.

There’s no downplaying the importance of this series for both teams, particularly the Guardians.

Cleveland entered the All-Star break in first place with a half-game lead and entered the month of August trailing Minnesota by just one game in the division. The Guardians have lost six games in the standings during the month while going 9-16.

There are two more games remaining in the series in Minnesota, and they have three games scheduled in Cleveland from Sept. 4-6.

“Just putting an emphasis on playing hard and making sure that we’re taking care of the controllables,” Naylor said of the focus entering the week. “Making sure that we’re going out there, making sure that everyone is doing the things that they’re supposed to do. There’s a big emphasis on this series. Tough one tonight, but we’re going to come ready tomorrow.”