MINNEAPOLIS -- Sonny Gray sat down at the lectern where he does his postgame press conferences and heaved a deep sigh into the air.

It’s not the type of session one expects to have with a pitcher who entered the day third in the American League in ERA, considered an early competitor for the league’s Cy Young Award. Then again, that kind of pitcher doesn’t expect to be lifted with a lead after only four innings, either, regardless of how difficult those innings had been.

But that’s the situation that brought an extra introspective and frustrated Gray to that podium following Thursday’s 8-4 loss to the Tigers during which he was taken out after throwing 79 pitches in four wild and laborious innings -- only to see Detroit rally for the lead immediately afterward.

“It’s never an easy call to take out a starter at that point in the game with a pitcher like Sonny, because he does compete … even when he’s not quite feeling like himself,” manager Rocco Baldelli said. “But at that point in the game with what I was watching, that’s the decision I absolutely thought was the right decision in the moment.”

Gray wasn’t at anything close to his best, and he recognized that. It was evident as he labored through a 35-pitch fourth inning during which he issued three walks to one of the least-productive offenses in the Majors -- but he also escaped with a 4-2 lead, having allowed only one more run, on a run-scoring double play. Based on that -- and having seen a 27-pitch second inning earlier -- Baldelli made the call.

But as Gray reiterated, he just wanted to be allowed to pitch through it, to stay in the fight. As captured by Bally Sports North cameras, Gray and Baldelli had an extended conversation in the dugout, one after which Gray acknowledged that they would have to “clear the air.”

“I’m super competitive, and [even] when I don’t have it, I still feel I can get a job done,” Gray said. “I think that was all it was. There is nothing other than that. I wanted to stay in it, and it just didn’t happen.”

It didn’t help the Twins that the game immediately turned after that conversation, as Jovani Moran emerged from the bullpen for the fifth and allowed three Tigers runs. His struggles turned a 4-2 lead into a deficit for which the Twins’ offense had no answer, as Minnesota went hitless across the final five frames while the struggling Jorge López allowed three more runs in the ninth.

But Gray also acknowledged that he hasn’t exactly made it easy on himself this year, even as he entered with the best FIP (2.39) and the third-best ERA (2.25) among qualified AL pitchers.

Gray has often dealt with traffic on the basepaths and hasn’t had his entire arsenal working in coordination for many of his starts. Much of his success has come because he has held opposing hitters to 11-for-71 (.155) with 11 singles with runners in scoring position.

“I have to figure that out, because it’s a continuous thing that’s continuing to happen,” Gray said. “Throughout the course of this year, I’ve been able to limit the damage, to limit the big inning. But at the same time, I do continue to put myself in situations, bases loaded, no out; bases loaded, one out. … When you continue to walk guys, it will eventually catch up with you.”

Gray was the Twins’ most vocal pitcher in Spring Training about wanting himself and his rotationmates to pitch deeper into games, and Baldelli has consistently said this season that he wants his starters to pitch deeper into games. He has backed up those words with actions, as the Minnesota entered Thursday ranked second in the Majors in innings per start.

Baldelli welcomes the pushback when he has to make a tough call, as he did on Thursday, because he would rather have a pitcher fighting to stay in the battle as opposed to the other way around. And even when the emotions run high in a tough loss, he’ll stand by his decisions.

“The way the game played out after that makes it even more frustrating for all of us, myself included,” Baldelli said. “No one feels good about that game, the way that it went, up and down. The decisions are challenging sometimes; we have to make them and live with them.”