ANAHEIM, Calif. -- The Twins lost twice on Monday.

They dropped the opener of their six-game West Coast trip to the Angels, 4-3.

And in what ultimately could be a far worse result, first baseman Justin Morneau departed the game in the seventh inning with a sore wrist and will fly back to Minnesota on Tuesday to have it examined.

It is Morneau's left wrist, the same one he had surgically repaired last September to stabilize a tendon.

"It doesn't feel loose," said Morneau, who was the Twins' designated hitter Monday and left after two at-bats, a bouncer to first base and a strikeout. "I'm not a doctor, but it's just sore in there.

"Hopefully, it's just inflammation from something breaking up and it just got a little irritated from a swing or whatever it was. But the ligament doesn't feel loose, which is a good sign. So I'll stay positive and hope it's part of the process."

Morneau said he re-injured the wrist two weekends ago in Tampa Bay, and that it worsened over this past weekend at home against Kansas City.

"I don't know," he said. "There's not much I can do. ... Hopefully we can get a best-case scenario of some stuff breaking up in there similar to Joe Nathan with his elbow last year."

In 20 games this season, Morneau, the 2006 American League Most Valuable Player, is hitting .230 with four home runs and nine RBI.

"It wasn't too bad for the first part of that homestand," Morneau said. "And then I hit the ball to center in my second at-bat on Friday night. IT kind of barked at me pretty good.

"We had Saturday off with the rainout and I felt decent. And then we had Sunday, and that was not very good. Today it just got worse. Swinging and missing is worse than making contact."

Morneau said it particularly bothered him during his second at-bat, the strikeout.

"It didn't feel too good, that's for sure," he said. "Hopefully, I get some answers tomorrow."

However many games he misses -- and it appears that will be at least the final two games here against the Angels, if not the three games this weekend in Seattle, too -- it's another blow to the Twins in a season already threatening to go off the rails.

Monday's loss dropped the Twins to 6-16 and into last place in the AL Central.