MINNEAPOLIS -- Set aside Royce Lewis’ Opening Day injury, and this is just about as healthy as the Twins could have hoped for their lineup to be, with a productive Carlos Correa at its heart and Byron Buxton manning center field.

But the promise of the new year still felt a bit too much like the old.

Instead of a continuation of the productive second-half offense from last season that helped Minnesota pull away from the American League Central en route to a division title, the Twins’ first head-to-head matchup against the Guardians featured more strikeouts and missed opportunities -- like parts of early last season -- in a 4-2 loss in Thursday’s home opener.

“The season is still very young, but we don't want it to be like last year where the first half completely was a mess,” Correa said. “We want to be able to make those adjustments a lot earlier.”

The Twins plated their two runs on an Edouard Julien solo homer and a wild pitch, but went 0-for-12 with runners in scoring position and struck out 15 times as a team, which they only did eight times in nine-inning games last season. Eight of those strikeouts came with runners in scoring position.

Though it’s early in the year, the Twins are 9-for-61 (.148) with runners in scoring position this season -- and, considering some of their early season struggles in that regard last year, too, they perhaps see a better example of what they could be doing in the dugout across the diamond.

“We’ve seen what happens when we put it in play and make something happen,” manager Rocco Baldelli said. “We did it a little bit on the road trip. And I think early in the season, backing the ball up and maybe trying to do a little less is sometimes a better idea.”

The Twins kept pace with the Guardians in hits (seven) but simply couldn’t do anything with the opportunities. Alex Kirilloff’s one-out triple in the first was followed by a strikeout and a weak groundout. Julien watched strike three go by with the bases loaded in the second inning, and a strikeout and popout squandered another bases-loaded situation in the seventh.

They got the leadoff man on base in the eighth on a Correa double, but struck out three times after that, leaving him there.

“Overall, we were close a couple of times,” Kirilloff said. “Just [would] like to do a little more, a little bit better with runners in scoring position. I think we're close as an offense. Just got to keep plugging away.”

The Twins saw what happens when the other team puts it in play, at the very least. Of the four runs to cross the plate against Pablo López, three came in the fourth inning, when the Guardians did what they always do: String together balls in play all over the field. Three singles, a fielder’s choice, an RBI knock and a sac fly later, three runs had scored.

“When you look on their side, they're not trying to hit any home runs,” Correa said. “They were just putting the ball in play, [and baserunners go] first to third. ... It's a beautiful game early in the year when it's cold weather and it's tough to go out and string a lot of home runs together or square the ball up. Yeah, it's not a bad approach.”

It’s worth noting that very much did not play out in Cleveland’s favor in the big picture last season, considering the Guardians translated MLB’s lowest strikeout rate into the game’s fourth-fewest runs. But perhaps, early in the year, when timing and eye aren’t as locked in, the Twins’ preferred approach of driving pitches they can attack for damage could adapt, they think.

In an early sign that approach might not have been working, the Twins entered the game with only four barreled balls in five games, second-fewest in the league. (The league-leading Padres had 20.) For a team that likes to pull balls in the air, their launch angle was, by far, the lowest in the league, too.

It’s much too early to overreact to anything -- but the Twins also don’t want to wait too long.

“Later in the summer, when our timing is good and [we’re] been playing 100 games into the season, you feel good, you can take some shots, you’re seeing the ball better,” Baldelli said. "But I think early on, we can do a better job with those good at-bats.”