MINNEAPOLIS — One bad inning was all it took.

The Minnesota Twins scored four times against Franco Aleman in the third inning and held on to defeat the Cleveland Guardians 4-3 Saturday afternoon at Target Field.

Cleveland struck first in the second inning when Jo Adell singled and Angel Martínez followed with another hit. Travis Bazzana then sent a two-out single into center field, scoring Adell before Martínez was thrown out attempting to advance to third.

Daniel Espino opened the game for Cleveland and did his job, allowing one hit while striking out two over two scoreless innings. Then came Aleman.

Emmanuel Rodriguez greeted the right-hander by launching a home run to center in his first Major League plate appearance. Luke Keaschall and Brooks Lee followed with singles before Kody Clemens drove home Keaschall to give Minnesota a 2-1 lead.

Royce Lewis added another RBI single, and Aleman later hit Victor Caratini with the bases loaded to force home the fourth run of the inning.

By the time the damage ended, Aleman had allowed four runs on five hits while recording only two outs.

Cleveland fought its way back into the game in the fifth. David Fry was hit by a pitch and Austin Hedges singled before Brayan Rocchio’s groundout scored Fry. Steven Kwan followed with a two-out single to center that brought home Hedges and cut Minnesota’s lead to 4-3.

That was as close as the Guardians would get.

Connor Prielipp allowed three runs on five hits over 5? innings for Minnesota. The Twins’ bullpen did the rest, holding Cleveland without a hit over the final 3? innings. Kody Funderburk and Jeff Hoffman combined for six strikeouts before A.J. Minter worked a perfect ninth to earn his first save of the season.

The loss wasted an outstanding appearance from Joey Cantillo, who followed Aleman and restored order with four scoreless innings. Cantillo allowed only one hit and one walk while striking out eight. Craig Yoho added 1? hitless innings with two strikeouts.

Cleveland collected five hits, all from different players, and finished 1-for-6 with runners in scoring position. José Ramírez and Jo Adell combined to go 1-for-8 with two strikeouts apiece.

The Guardians’ bullpen plan worked almost perfectly.

Almost.

Unfortunately, Aleman’s two-thirds of an inning were enough to decide the game.

What’s Next: The Guardians conclude their three-game series at Target Field Sunday afternoon. First pitch is scheduled for 2:10 p.m. ET.