KANSAS CITY — 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.”