Degrees of embarrassment

Losing is bad.  Losing six straight is worse. Maybe losing 15-0 is worse yet.

This play was the difference between
trailing by 10 runs and trailing by nine. 

It's impossible to lose 15-0 and yield 25 hits and look good. The Twins on Monday night didn't look professional. Or even attentive.

It was back to the days of April and May, when ground balls rolled through the infield, the baserunners were prone to blunders and more rundowns were botched than productive.

Getting thrown out at home when down 10-0? What's the point, Alexi Casilla?

Then there was the first-inning rundown that took forever. The infielders were so wary of getting close to Matt Kemp that I figured he had some communicable disease. The rundown problem had disappeared during the hot streak — remember when the Twins won 15 of 17? — but it sure looked bad again Monday.

Tsuyoshi Nishioka was charged with one error. He was, for a while, charged with a second, but the ruling was changed after the game. Having watched the replay, I don't really understand changing the ruling. Yes, the ball was hit hard, but (a) he didn't field it cleanly and (b) made a bad throw.

Whether it's a hit or an error, that play underscores the issue for a shortstop with a less than optimal arm. Shortstops have the infield's longest throws, so there is a premium on fielding the ball cleanly. When Nishioka played that hard hop off his chest, he had little chance of getting the out because his arm isn't good enough to make up the difference.

Tuesday is another day. May the home team not fleece the paying customers again.