KANSAS CITY, Mo. >> Only 10 games into the season, the Twins poor start can’t be called a nightmare. Not yet. But there might be some tossing and turning happening in Rocco Baldelli’s bed at night, if he’s actually getting any sleep.

With their manager watching the final few innings out of sight after he was ejected for arguing a questionable pitch-clock violation call, the Twins fell 4-2 to the Kansas City Royals in the opener of a four-game road trip to Kauffman Stadium on Monday night.

The Twins dropped to 3-7, their worst start since 2016 when they began 1-9.

“This clearly isn’t the start of the season that you dream about,” Baldelli said. “That’s pretty obvious.”

With the Twins trailing 4-1 in the bottom of the sixth inning, home plate umpire Nic Lentz ejected Baldelli for arguing after he made a call against right-hander Simeon Woods Richardson that resulted in an automatic ball. Woods Richardson appeared to tell Lentz with seven seconds on the clock that he couldn’t hear signals in his earpiece coming from catcher Christian Vázquez, but Lentz did not grant time out. After Woods Richardson re-engaged the rubber, he tried to deliver a pitch with two seconds left, but Lentz didn’t allow him to throw and called automatic ball four, giving Jonathan India first base.

Baldelli burst from the dugout shaking his finger and arguing in obvious disagreement. He appeared to shout “You [messed] up” at Lentz, who let Baldelli blow off some steam before signaling his ejection. Baldelli continued to seethe on his way out, making a kicking motion over home plate in the spirit of old-school managers Earl Weaver, Lou Piniella or Tommy Lasorda. He also threw his lineup card and other items onto the field from the dugout.

“I didn’t really wait long enough to get an explanation,” Baldelli said. “I was a strong ‘no’ on the call as it stood. [The Royals] were given a free base where it’s just not the right call.”

Baldelli later said Lentz granting time out to reset the at-bat would have been the right thing to do. Woods Richardson, 107 pitches into the outing, wasn’t trying to manipulate the clock against batter.

Umpires did not talk to a pool reporter after the game, but did release a statement through the league that blamed it all on Woods Richardson:

“The home plate umpire deemed the sequence an attempted circumvention of the Pitch Timer regulations by the pitcher. Disengaging while gesturing about a potential PitchCom issue, and then re-engaging late in an attempt to deliver a pitch prior to the expiration of the Pitch Timer, did not allow the hitter the ability to remain alert and ready. The violation and corresponding automatic ball were issued to the pitcher for this circumvention of the Pitch Timer Regulations prevented a potential quick pitch.”

Woods Richardson implied he got a raw deal but tried to be diplomatic.

“Kind of a crucial count, 3-2,” Woods Richardson said. “Bad timing on that part, but it’s OK.”

The Twins have run into some bad timing and worse luck so far, but they’re not playing as well as they should. They managed two runs against Michael Lorenzen and Kansas City’s bullpen a day after blowing a 7-1 lead to the Houston Astros. Willi Castro hit an RBI double in the second and, during a rally against closer Carlos Estévez, Harrison Bader hit an RBI single.

Bader also made highlight-reel catches on back-to-back plays in the sixth. The Twins have shown effort overall. Byron Buxton almost had a highlight catch in the first, but couldn’t hang onto India’s drive after crashing into the fence. Buxton was OK, finishing the game.

Woods Richardson allowed four runs, eight hits and four walks in 5 2/3 innings, but helped by going deeper into the game than the typical Twins starter has. Minnesota came in last in the league in innings pitched from starters.

“I think we’re all frustrated with ourselves, but it’s a long season,” Woods Richardson said.

Baldelli, ho was ejected for the 15th time in his career, said the Twins have time to turn things around. Any time now, guys?

“We’ve got to continue to dig in and fight and battle any way we can right now until things start to click,” Baldelli said.” Until the lineup starts to turn itself over a little more often, a little more quickly, until we start getting a little more consistency on the other side of the ball, too. We’ve got to come together. Yes, it’s early, but we need to play better.”