MINNEAPOLIS – His starting pitcher gave up nine runs in fewer than three innings Tuesday night and this was Rangers pitching coach Mark Connor's reaction: He smiled.

It was one of those fatherly, knowing smiles, the kind that suggests: "Hey, something good will come from this."

Even if "this" was an 11-4 loss to Minnesota. And even if "this" made rookie Doug Mathis' ERA an unsightly 10.12 after his first major league start and his fourth big league appearance.

"He's a smart kid," Connor said. "He'll learn from this. Experience is the best teacher and I told him that on one of the trips I made to the mound. I like him. He's going to be alright."

What Connor saw during Mathis' pregame bullpen session – an assortment of rushed pitches – the crowd of 19,376 at the Metrodome witnessed from the start of the game. Mathis rushed the first pitch of the game to Carlos Gomez, trying to get ahead quickly. Gomez lined it into the gap for a triple.

Each of the first three hitters reached against Mathis. He allowed a single to Alexi Casilla and a double to Joe Mauer and by the time his first inning as a starter was done, the Twins were up 2-0. The crowd sounded more like 40,000 than 20,000.

"I just kind of let it all snowball on me and get hold of me," said Mathis, who had three scoreless relief innings before Tuesday. "I want to step back and look at this and learn from it. I want to see what adjustments I can make. I know I didn't slow things down when I needed to. I never got comfortable, and it obviously affected what I was doing."

Mathis got through the second by coaxing Gomez to hit into a double play. But in the third, a combination of some rough-around-the-edges fielding and his continued anxiety led to an awful-looking inning. The first seven hitters reached against him and all of them scored. Mathis ended up facing nine hitters and retiring one before leaving.

But afterward, Connor and manager Ron Washington weren't overwrought by the inning. An error by Ian Kinsler was costly. Washington also said the Twins, who handed the Rangers their third straight loss after reaching .500 on Saturday, simply put good swings on good pitches.

Of particular note was Michael Cuddyer's double with the bases loaded. It was a fastball down and away, but Cuddyer reached out and lined it to right field for a run-scoring double.

"I'd throw that pitch in the same spot," Mathis said. "He just did a good job of hitting it the other way. The whole night was something to learn from."

The question remains whether Mathis will get another chance immediately. His spot comes up Sunday. Washington said he'd discuss the situation with his staff and general manager Jon Daniels before making a decision.

"But," Washington said, "Right now, we just need to take our showers and let this one go down the drain."