The Roof Falls on Angels : Baseball: Streak ends at three as Metrodome gives Polonia fits in left field and Twins win, 6-0.

There’s some logic to Angel left fielder Luis Polonia’s explanation of how he misplayed two successive fly balls into triples.

“Who could I blame? I cannot blame myself because I can’t catch anything I can’t see,” Polonia said.

The Angels saw their fast start take a detour Friday, though not only because of Polonia’s misadventures in tracking balls against the beige Teflon of the Metrodome roof.

Minnesota right-hander Kevin Tapani pitched a seven-hitter, striking out nine without walking a batter to end the Angels’ winning streak at three in the Twins’ home opener. Their 6-0 loss nettled them, but they proclaimed they weren’t discouraged by their first defeat of the season.

“There are going to be days like this, but you can’t tear yourself down,” said Jim Abbott, who gave up six runs--five of them earned--in five innings. “We’ve got a good defense, a good offense and good pitching. We’re going to win our share of games and we’re going to lose every now and then. Hopefully, we’ll keep those to a minimum.”

Polonia had the maximum amount of difficulty in the second inning, when he misjudged ScottLeius’ liner off the wall and let Greg Gagne’s sinking liner fall in front of him and roll behind him as he stood frozen in disbelief.

The Twins had taken a 1-0 lead in the first inning on a walk to Chuck Knoblauch, a double by Kirby Puckett and a single by former Angel Chili Davis. The back-to-back triples gave Minnesota a 2-0 lead, which grew to 4-0 in the third with the help of the only error charged to Polonia.

After Puckett bunted for a hit, Polonia bobbled a single by Davis, putting Puckett on third and Davis on second. Puckett scored and Davis tagged on Brian Harper’s fly to center, and Davis scored on Shane Mack’s grounder to short.

The Metrodome will never rank among Polonia’s favorite places to play.

“In a normal stadium, when the ball is hit behind you, you find the wall and then the ball,” Polonia said. “You can’t do that here (because of the roof, which is punctured by ventilation holes). Some of the holes, they look like baseballs. You see holes and you don’t know how many baseballs are up there.”

While Polonia was counting baseballs, Gary Gaetti was counting boos from the 45,866 fans in his former home stadium.

Playing against the Twins for the first time since signing with the Angels as a new-look free agent in January, Gaetti counted more jeers than cheers from the crowd each time his name was announced. He was annoyed by the fans’ failure to recognize the contributions he made during his nine-year Minnesota career, but he was more unhappy about his new club losing.

“I’m just glad it’s over with,” he said of his return. “I’m not real happy about the outcome. It was a pretty good game for the Twins. We made some mistakes.”

Angel Manager Doug Rader wasn’t happy with Polonia’s mistakes, but he did understand them.

“It wasn’t the first time and won’t be the last time you see it in this ballpark,” Rader said. “To say it’s a joke is stretching it, but it certainly isn’t the most ideal place to play. Ask anybody who’s played the outfield here. It’s tough.”

The Twins made it tough on the Angels by scoring two more runs in the fifth. The Angels had only one extra-base hit off Tapani, a double by Gaetti with one out in the seventh. He moved to third on Junior Felix’s ground out, but was left there when Dick Schofield struck out.

“With a lead, I was able to throw strikes and go right at them,” Tapani said.

Polonia wants the first fly ball today to be hit right at him.

“Last year, if I had days like this, I would feel down,” said Polonia, who worked with defensive instructor Bruce Hines this spring to improve his outfield play. “I’m ready to go back out there. I’m not scared.

“This reminds me of one time when I was with New York. We played in Chicago in the wind and I had a tough day. That was all they need to say bad things about me. But now, I’ve got my confidence.”