MINNEAPOLIS -- Considering how he¡¯s felt most of the time after facing the Twins, Kevin Gausman was feeling pretty decent on Friday. The Blue Jays came up short, dropping the series opener, 2-0, at Target Field, but Gausman certainly did his job.

The veteran right-hander held the Twins hitless into the fourth inning and allowed just two runs over 5 2/3 innings. He walked four and gave up four hits while striking out four.

Compare that line to his numbers against the Twins as a Blue Jay -- Gausman has now made seven starts against Minnesota, including Game 1 of last year¡¯s AL Wild Card Series, and he has a 5.85 ERA in 32 1/3 innings over those seven outings.

Against the rest of the league? As a Blue Jay, Gausman has pitched to a 3.37 ERA over 488 1/3 innings.

¡°They¡¯ve always kind of been my kryptonite, especially the last couple of years,¡± Gausman said. ¡°For whatever reason their lineup always kinda gives me trouble. Tonight I thought we pitched really well, but four walks and still sitting here with a loss so, not great. But I guess it¡¯s a step in the right direction against them.¡±

Blue Jays manager John Schneider said the team identified a few adjustments that Gausman could make against the Twins, and for the most part, they were successful.

¡°I think there are certain tendencies that he has that they¡¯re probably on,¡± Schneider said. ¡°He located his fastball down in the zone today. It¡¯s a pretty obvious approach they have when they are good against him about just swinging at the balls up, and I thought he did a good job of pairing that with fastballs down today.¡±

Gausman kept the Twins off the board for four innings, but they finally touched him for a pair of runs in the fifth. The inning started with Jose Miranda lining a double, before noted Blue Jays agitator Carlos Santana singled him home.

After Ryan Jeffers walked, Austin Martin dropped a sacrifice bunt to move the runners up a base, before Willi Castro plated the second run with a sacrifice fly.

¡°Probably the pitch I¡¯d wish to have back is the leadoff double to Miranda,¡± Gausman said. ¡°Just a fastball too much in the zone, but for the most part I thought we did a good job of kind of mixing it up and trying to keep them off balance as much as we can.¡±

The pitching matchup was a rematch of Game 1 of last year¡¯s AL Wild Card Series, with Gausman facing off against Pablo L¨®pez. The Twins¡¯ right-hander was on his game that day, as he was again on Friday, holding the Blue Jays hitless until the fifth and ending up throwing 7 2/3 scoreless innings.

But unlike last October, Gausman got the best of Royce Lewis. The Twins¡¯ third baseman homered in his first two at-bats of the Wild Card Series, but on Friday he grounded out, struck out and blooped a soft single to right in his three at-bats against Gausman.

¡°He got me on two fastballs last year. [I threw] some good splits that he kind of spit on,¡± Gausman said. ¡°I¡¯m still gonna throw him fastballs, it¡¯s one of my best pitches. I only gave up three hits [in Game 1] last year and two of them happened to leave the park.¡±

Gausman was 6-1 in his previous eight starts entering Friday, which helped resurrect a season that started rough and turned into a bit of a roller coaster until he found his stride after the All-Star break.

¡°I feel like I¡¯m right there. A couple of adjustments mechanically that I¡¯ve made I think have led to me throwing more strikes and getting ahead,¡± he said. ¡°This year¡¯s been a grind for me obviously, hasn¡¯t been nearly as sharp as last year was.¡±