DETROIT -- The tone around the Twins clubhouse had been a little quieter than usual over the first two games of their series with the Tigers, yet there still remained a ray of optimism that exuded from the players.

But after losing their third straight to the Tigers, once again in dominant fashion as the team was shut out 6-0 on Sunday, the Twins couldn't help but let the disappointing feelings start to seep through a bit.

There was no music playing in the clubhouse after this loss where former Twins pitcher Kenny Rogers held the club to only two hits. Instead there were just somber faces and a look that portrayed this was a team worn down by a 2-7 road trip and searching for ways to get things rolling once again.

"Today was pretty disappointing," Torii Hunter said. "You don't want a team to sweep you. We're all professionals so we know how to come back tomorrow and forget about this day. But today, we're going to dwell on this feeling."

The feeling was made worse by a weekend series with the Tigers that was about as frustrating as it can get for an offense that has seen its fair share of struggles. Over the three games, the Twins were outscored 33-1 by the Tigers and collected only 11 hits.

"My whole career I've never been whooped like this before," Hunter said. "In eight years in the big leagues, I've never been defeated like this -- even in the Minor Leagues -- I don't think."

It had been a long time since a Twins team had suffered such defeat. The last time Minnesota scored only one run over a three-game series was June 5-7, 1981, at Detroit.

Another reason for the increased frustration on Sunday was that the loss was the culmination of what has been a difficult April for the Twins. Despite a solid homestand in the middle of the month, the club went 3-12, on the road which included three sweeps -- all at the hands of division rivals: Cleveland, Chicago and Detroit.

"This is only the first month of the year here and we have a long ways to go, but we definitely have a lot of work to do," Twins manager Ron Gardenhire said. "We have to pitch better, we have to hit better, and catch the ball better -- the whole package. That's why there can't be anybody pointing fingers in here, because it's a total package. We need an effort by the whole team to get better."

On Sunday, there were glimpses early that this might be the game that the Twins start to turn things around.

In the second inning, Minnesota had two runners on with only one out when Rondell White hit a hard grounder up the middle of the infield that Rogers managed to get with a piece of his glove. It slowed down the ball just enough to record one out on a fielder's choice. Juan Castro then followed with a hard-hit fly ball to the gap in right-center but Magglio Ordonez managed to run it down.

It was a similar hit later in the game by the Tigers that would swing the momentum completely in their direction. It came after Kyle Lohse had given up a two-run homer to Marcus Thames in the fifth for a 2-0 Detroit lead.

Lohse (1-2) loaded the bases with one out in the sixth on a single and two hit batters before facing backup catcher Vance Wilson. Wilson hit a double to almost the same spot as Castro, but this time Twins right fielder Lew Ford wasn't able to run the ball down, and three Detroit runs scored.

So goes the luck of the Twins.

"It's frustrating," Gardenhire said of the bad breaks. "It's frustrating for everybody. [Lew] gave it everything he had, it's not like he could have done anything different. He didn't get it, and it went in the right spot. It's just the way it's going for us."

Looking at the box scores from the three games with Detroit will make it appear to many outsiders like this is a team that is far from the championship level the Twins played at during their three division title seasons in 2002-04. But that isn't how anyone inside the clubhouse feels, even if they know it will take a lot of improvement to get there.

"It's not the first time we've been doubted," Lohse said. "We've got to get back to doing all the little things we used to do. That's pitching, defense and getting some key hits. I think it starts with the pitching. We have to step it up a little bit. We've had a tough run here and you just have to get it going."