More sloppy play costsTwins another game

All you need know about the Twins' 10-5 loss to Kansas City Wednesday was what went down in the eighth inning.

The bullpen door couldn't open fast enough. The inning couldn't end for Ryan Doumit fast enough. And most of the announced crowd of 28,139 couldn't get out of Target Field fast enough.

With the Twins trailing 6-5, Eric Hosmer singled and Johnny Giovatella reached base when Doumit misplayed a fly ball hit to left-center for an error. Alcides Escobar, at the end of a 12-pitch at-bat, singled to left.

Doumit misplayed that one too, for an error, allowing Hosmer to score. Doumit picked up the ball and threw wildly home for another error, allowing the runners to move up a base.

"The one all the way to the wall in left-center field is not an easy play," Twins manager Ron Gardenhire said. "But he can make that play. The other one, he rushed it and, on top of it, you rush your throw too. And the ball goes flying."

According to the Elias Sports Bureau, Doumit became the first Twin to commit three errors in one inning since Danny Thompson on Sept. 3. 1973 in Kansas City against the Royals. He's the first outfielder to commit three errors in one inning since Detroit's Scott Lusader on September 9, 1989.

"I'm going to have days like this," Doumit, primarily a catcher, said. "It's part of the learning curve. It's part of all that. It's embarrassing, but I'm going to learn from it and go out and get 'em tomorrow."

The Twins have lost the first two games of the series by the combined score of 19-6. The Twins have used 10 pitchers, including seven Wednesday. The Royals have banged out 30 hits against Twins pitching.

Mauer still out Twins catcher Joe Mauer missed a second consecutive start because of back spasms, but the club indicated that he was doing better.

Mauer experienced spasms shortly before batting practice Tuesday and appeared to be in discomfort while speaking with reporters following the game.

"I walked in today and I asked him how he was doing," Gardenhire said. "He said he's not as bad as [Tuesday] but still not ready to play baseball.

"I'm sure this little drop in temperature doesn't help things with a stiff back, but we'll see. We'll go day-to-day with him. Those things can clear up real quick, but while they're there you just don't have any movement -- you can't catch, you can't swing. We'll just see."