Toronto – Reliever Emilio Pagán hung his head as calamity ensued all around him.

The Twins right-hander tried to dance his way out of a big spot, but instead grooved a fastball to Cavan Biggio, and Rogers Centre exploded into cheers. The Blue Jays’ first baseman celebrated as his three-run blast in the eighth inning served up a thrashing conclusion to the Twins’ 7-6 loss that burned bright on both ends.

There were other missteps that led to Minnesota’s collapse, though nothing stung more than Pagán’s slip-up. The Twins bullpen was pressed — Jhoan Duran and Brock Stewart were down — so, without other options, Pagán was thrust into the fire as momentum roared in Toronto’s favor. It didn’t go well.

“I commanded the ball great pretty much the whole inning except for those three pitches,” said Pagán, who allowed two singles before the fateful homer. “Unfortunately, that’s the way baseball works sometimes.”

Despite how the game concluded, the Twins’ demise Sunday wasn’t an instant freefall. It was a slow burn that saw the club drain its own lead, one mistake at a time. Carlos Correa, arguably the club’s best defender, uncorked a wild throw in the fifth inning on an attempted double play off the bat of Vladimir Guerrero Jr., allowing a run to score in the process.

One batter later, Matt Chapman crushed a two-run homer to reduce the Twins’ lead to two. Just like that, things began to spiral.

“I felt great,” said Twins starter Louie Varland, who allowed four earned runs. “I made one mistake [to Chapman]. Wish I would’ve got that double play from [Correa] to [Alex Kirilloff], but, again, that’s baseball. And it didn’t work out that way.”

Next, a massive pitch timer violation loomed large as Kirilloff was called for a batter’s infraction in the sixth inning, resulting in an automatic strikeout. Per MLB’s rules, the hitter must be in the box and attentive to the pitcher when the clock strikes eight seconds. Kirilloff was stunned after home plate umpire Brian Walsh announced the violation — the 25-year-old thought his head was up and facing the pitcher. Walsh disagreed, and the miscue stranded Michael A. Taylor at second and booted Minnesota out of a two-out opportunity to add key insurance runs.

“[Kirilloff] looked down for a split second,” said Twins manager Rocco Baldelli. “But he was looking at the pitcher also when the clock said eight, so I think it’s a bold call. I mean, I can’t agree with that, and I think the Blue Jays are walking off the field thinking they got away with something.”

In that situation, there’s no guarantee Kirilloff drives in a run, but from Baldelli’s perspective, it was hard to accept his club losing a chance to score.

“It’s just really hard when the opportunities get taken away from you on a judgment call that rarely takes place,” the Twins’ skipper said, “because I don’t think it was that clear.”

Make no mistake, pitch timer discrepancies are not why the Twins lost this contest. Baldelli characterized the middle innings of this game as “stale,” a contrast to how hot things began. Minnesota’s offense sparkled at the beginning of Sunday’s game, romping Jays starter Kevin Gausman for six runs in 4 2/3 innings.