MINNEAPOLIS -- The floodgates opened rapidly on ?Marco Gonzales? and the Mariners on Sunday, and before they could catch their breath, the matinee in Minnesota was already out of reach.

Gonzales surrendered a leadoff homer to the red-hot Byron Buxton in the first inning before finding himself in a bases-loaded matchup set up by an oh-so-close miss on a jump-catch attempt by J.P. Crawford and a critical two-out error by Adam Frazier on a ground ball while shifted in shallow right field.

That set up new Twins catcher Gary S¨¢nchez, who, in a 2-2 count and hungry for a big start, unloaded a 446-foot grand slam that landed in the third deck and sent Seattle on its way to a 10-4 loss at Target Field, its first of the 2022 season.

¡°Not the start I expected, obviously,¡± Gonzales said. ¡°It¡¯s disappointing, but I¡¯m just looking to bounce back and move forward.¡±

Buxton also homered against Gonzales in the second inning, which marked three straight plate appearances that Minnesota¡¯s superstar went deep, beginning with his eighth inning blast on Saturday. The three deep flies surrendered by Gonzales were among six given up by the Mariners all together, a mark they¡¯d reached only 12 times in franchise history entering play and not once since 2019, which also included a loss to that year¡¯s "Bomba Squad" Twins at T-Mobile Park.?

"The home run ball got us today,¡± manager Scott Servais said. ¡°They're a good team. They've got a heck of a lineup and certainly got all kinds of power, and if you give them extra outs in an inning, it [hurts] us.¡±

All of what unfolded early was particularly uncharacteristic for Gonzales, who was coming off one of the strongest second halves in the American League last season, when he went 9-1 with a 2.70 ERA, while holding opposing hitters to a .202/.258/.381 slash line in 14 starts, of which the Mariners won 10. His big rebound after a tough first half played a huge part in Seattle¡¯s late surge up the standings.

Yet due to a ballooned pitch count early -- 31 in the first inning and 27 in the second for 61 total -- Gonzales lasted just two innings, his second shortest start since arriving in Seattle in 2017. Only five times in Gonzales¡¯ 122 career outings has he given up at least three homers, and up until Sunday he never allowed a grand slam over his first seven seasons.

The most glaring issue for Gonzales seemed to be pitching from behind. He threw a ball on the first pitch to 10 of the 14 batters he faced, which forced him to throw his high-80s sinker and cutter near the plate and in favorable hitters' counts. That, coupled with a lack of command on his curveball, served as a recipe for Minnesota¡¯s success.

¡°He needs to pitch ahead in the count probably as much as anybody,¡± Servais said. ¡°All our guys do, and just controlling counts, getting ahead in the 0-0, 1-1 counts, and we didn't do that today.¡±

That said, Gonzales did reach two strikes in each of the three sequences that resulted in homers. Buxton¡¯s homers were perhaps more of a display of his elite bat speed on pitches up and in -- especially the first.

"I've had some trouble the past few times I've faced him actually,¡± Gonzales said. ¡°He's a good player, and I can't seem to figure it out right now."

S¨¢nchez's slam, however, came on a low-hanging changeup that the slugger timed up perfectly.

"It just kind of came back over the middle of the plate [and] was probably the right height," Gonzales explained. "But, yeah, over the middle of the plate and he put a good swing on it."

The homer would've been avoided if Frazier had made the would-be inning-ending play. The 2021 All-Star had just five errors at second base last season split between the Pirates and Padres.

¡°We didn't make a play there in the first inning, and then they get the big hit after that,¡± Servais said. ¡°It happens, and then you¡¯ve got the big spread in the game. But [for] our guys, I thought our at-bats were pretty good. We battled back in it and we just couldn't hold them down. The solo home runs after that, they just kept tacking on.¡±