Pavano upset after loss to Royals

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Carl Pavano did better with a bat in his hand than throwing a baseball.

Pavano took a bat to a trashcan in the Minnesota Twins dugout after being removed in the sixth inning of a 10-3 loss to the Kansas City Royals on Sunday.

"That's as frustrated as I can get," Pavano said. "It actually felt pretty good. I just kept whaling away with it. The (bat) wouldn't break. I couldn't break a bat in the dugout and I couldn't break any out there (on the mound). It was embarrassing."

Pavano was roughed up for seven runs, on a dozen hits, including Jeff Francoeur's home run, in 5 1/3 innings.

"I told my manager (Ron Gardenhire) that it wasn't pointed at him or anyone else," Pavano said. "It was my frustration. Was it the most mature way to deal with it? No. It actually felt amazing. I'd like to go out and do it again."

Pavano (2-3) has a 5.84 ERA after six starts, allowing 40 hits, 10 walks and two hit batters in 37 innings.

"It's an emotional game," Gardenhire said. "Carl cares. He's not doing his job. I'm not doing my job. I don't think there's anybody in here who can say they are doing their job. It's pretty frustrating for everybody. When we play like this, we should see those emotions. The last two series, I think, have been as bad as we can play."

The Twins have lost six in a row and were swept in a three-game series by the Royals for the first time since Aug. 4-6, 1998. Minnesota dropped to 9-18, the worst record in the majors.

Minnesota fell to nine-games below .500 for the first time since finishing the 2000 season 69-93. The Twins fell 10 games behind the division-leading Cleveland Indians, which is the furthest they have out of first since finishing 17-games out in 2007. Justin Morneau, who shaved his head before the game, did homer off Royals starter Luke Hochevar in the sixth for his first home run since July 6, 2010 at Toronto.

"I'd trade it for a win," Morneau said. "We keep believing it's going to turn around. We're going to have to make our own luck. We can't feel sorry for ourselves. The Royals probably don't feel sorry for beating us."

Mike Aviles had three hits, including a homer, and drove in four runs to help the Royals win.

Aviles, who matched his career high with four RBIs, hit a three-run homer in the eighth off Twins reliever Dusty Hughes. Aviles' single in the two-run sixth scored Mitch Maier, who had tripled.

Hochevar (3-3), who gave up 12 runs in 12 1-3 innings in losing his previous two starts, held the Twins to five hits and three runs in 6 1-3 innings. The Royals collected 15 hits, including two each by Maier, Matt Treanor and Billy Butler.

The Royals led 2-1 going into the bottom of the fifth, but scored five runs in the fifth and sixth innings. Butler had a RBI-double in the three-run fifth and scored on Wilson Betemit's two-out single. Maier's triple scored Treanor, who led off the inning with a double, in the sixth.

Alexi Casilla had two triples, an RBI and scored a run to lead the Twins' offense. The Twins rank last in the American League with 85 runs.

Royals centerfielder Jarrod Dyson suffered a left ankle sprain in the first inning on an as awkward slide into second base when he was out, attempting to stretch a single into a double. Dyson, who has seven steals without being caught, was replaced by Maier in the next inning and is listed as day-to-day.

Notes: DH Jim Thome was held of the Twins lineup with what manager Ron Gardenhire called stiffness. Thome started Saturday after missing the previous four games with a mild oblique strain. ... Victor Ortiz, who grew up in Garden City, Kan. and won the WBC welterweight title on April 16, threw out the ceremonial first pitch. ... Twins pitchers yielded 10 or more runs in a game for the sixth time this season. ... Twins 2B Tsuyoshi Nishioka, who is on the disabled list with a fractured left fibula, will report Monday to the Twins complex in Fort Myers, Fla. to continue his rehab. ... OF Delmon Young, who is on the DL with a left oblique strain, is taking batting practice in Minneapolis and could join the Twins during this 11-day, three-city trip.