There was a smile flashed toward teammates in the dugout and a strong high-five offered to first-base coach Hank Conger, but Carlos Correa didn’t think his two-run single in the sixth inning Sunday carried any extra personal significance.

It’s been a rough stretch for Correa, who was batting .207 in his first 21 games out of the All-Star break. A single Saturday against Arizona ended a 0-for-17 hitless skid. He was dropped out of the leadoff spot over the weekend.

“I’ve been struggling all year,” said Correa, who hit an RBI double and a three-run homer in his first two at-bats Monday at Detroit. “That’s no secret. I’m not going to put my head down and just give up and just say, ‘I’ll come back next year, and I’ll do it for the next five or so years.’ My mentality is just to go out there and figure it out every single day.”

Correa is striking out a little bit more than last year, and drawing fewer walks, but one of the biggest red flags in his performance is how much he has struggled against four-seam fastballs. He posted a .375 batting average on four-seam fastballs in 2022, according to StatCast. This year, he’s hitting only .244 vs. fastballs.

After recovering from a slow start last year and landing a six-year, $200 million contract, Correa has been unable to sustain a hot streak. He had a .634 OPS in April, .730 OPS in May, .735 OPS in June and a .705 OPS in July.

“Hopefully, we make the playoffs, and you can go out there and it will all be worth it,” Correa said. “For me, I’m not thinking about, ‘I’ve still got five more years to put up numbers.’ I’m thinking, ‘Figure it out right now.'”

Correa has grounded into a league-leading 22 double plays, four more than he’s grounded into in any other season in his nine-year career.

Can he point to a reason why he’s grounded into so many double plays this season?

“Yeah, I’m slow,” Correa deadpanned.

Luplow gets first start

Twins outfielder Jordan Luplow, who was claimed off waivers Friday, made his first start of the season Monday against Tigers lefthander Joey Wentz.

The Twins added the righthanded-hitting Luplow, who spent most of the 2023 season at Class AAA, because of his track record against lefties.

“It’s been a whirlwind year,” Luplow said. “This is my third team this year. This is just how the game works. Baseball is crazy. Just try to be the same guy every day. Bring that good energy to the table. When you get your shot, do the best you can.”

The 29-year-old Luplow made his Twins debut when he hit an eighth-inning single off Arizona catcher Carson Kelly in a 12-1 blowout victory Saturday. He had a couple of strong stretches with the Guardians in 2019 and 2021, which he attributed to manager Terry Francona putting him in favorable situations.

Lefty pitchers, he says, fall into his strengths because of the way sliders and heaters move toward him.

“Opportunities, sometimes, are few and far between [in MLB],” said Luplow, who spent an offseason training with Max Kepler. “Hopefully, get a little more here and win some ballgames.”

Etc.

• Joey Gallo sat out of Sunday’s comeback victory over the Diamondbacks and was likely to remain out of the lineup through Tuesday because the Twins faced two lefty starting pitchers to begin their series in Detroit. “We’re facing a couple lefties coming up, maybe it’s a good time for him to reset,” manager Rocco Baldelli said Sunday, “think about some things, work on some things and be ready to go.”

• The Twins released minor league outfielder Mark Contreras from their Class AAA St. Paul roster Thursday. Contreras, who played in 28 games with the Twins last year, hit .274 in 90 games with the Saints this season.

The Star Tribune did not send the writer of this article to the game. This was written using a broadcast, interviews and other material.