On the Detroit Tigers’ best play of the game Wednesday, Jose Iglesias made the worst play.

If there was somewhere to start dissecting their latest beatdown by the Kansas City Royals, maybe it was there, in the bottom of the fifth inning, when Iglesias doubled home one of their two runs in the game into the leftfield corner and then inexplicably jogged into the easiest of outs at third base for the latest baserunning gaffe in a season of them.

But no, with this team, it's best to start and finish near the end of the game, with the outcome already decided, when right-handed reliever Bruce Rondon’s uninspired offerings were getting hit around in the ninth inning of a blowout game.

Read more:

Insider: How Tigers may have damaged Anibal Sanchez's trade value

Insider: Money still a big factor as Tigers approach trade deadline

Rondon — with the immaturity issues the team hoped were in the past - decided to hit Royals third baseman Mike Moustakas in the back. Moustakas — a product of a team that doesn’t back down — threw his bat down, took some steps toward Rondon and the benches cleared.

The series of events represented the most embarrassing moment of the season for the Tigers. After the fracas, Rondon was ejected and on the mound came utilityman Andrew Romine, who pitched better than Rondon.

The Tigers were beat down, 16-2, but that hardly mattered. What did was the fashion in which they were defeated and how they continue to show no fight on a given night.

“We got our asses kicked,” manager Brad Ausmus said. “That’s basically what it was. They scored early and then they beat us up late. So there’s not much more to the story. They completely outplayed us.”

That’s a succinct way of putting it. A week after they were knocked around in Kansas City, the Tigers were embarrassed again, getting swept.

“It’s embarrassing,” leftfielder Justin Upton said. “I don’t think there are degrees of embarrassing, are there?”

The rest of the game won’t be remembered. In many ways, it doesn’t matter. Anibal Sanchez was shelled. So were the next two relievers that followed. The Tigers once again couldn’t hit. The Royals had a double-digit lead heading into the final frame, when the one thing that this game will be remembered for happened.

The bad blood had been brewing since last week in Kansas City, when Tigers hit five batters in a four-game series. Earlier in the game, lefty Chad Bell stuck one in the ribs of Alex Gordon. The sentiment inside the Royals clubhouse afterward was that after the Gordon hit by pitch, they were on high alert. When Moustakas — who is putting up All-Star numbers at third base and is one of their most important players — was hit, a boiling point had been reached.

The dugouts emptied and converged near the pitcher’s mound. The most fired up was lefty pitcher Danny Duffy, who hollered at Rondon and had to be restrained. Rondon hollered back and was held back by an umpire and teammates who were thrust into the line of fire for his immature actions.

Perhaps he was irked that Lorenzo Cain ran through a stop sign on an earlier single to score an add-on run. An easy answer to that would be: Don’t come into the game throwing 90-m.p.h. fastballs, looking disinterested in pitching in such a blowout situation.

Asked whether he was concerned with Rondon’s maturity, Ausmus said, “No more than I was yesterday.”

Said Duffy: “If Rondon doesn’t want to compete in a situation that’s not sexy, they should send his (butt) home.”

It’s not known whether Duffy was aware that, indeed, Rondon had been sent home for a similar situation two seasons ago.

The fire from the opposing clubhouse didn’t stop with Duffy.

First baseman Eric Hosmer, who went 5-for-6, said, “We didn’t show anyone up. We got hits, we scored runs. Apparently that’s frowned upon around here.”

Ausmus was unsure of Rondon’s intent, suggesting the pitcher was a better person to ask. Through a team spokesperson, Rondon declined comment. The apparent intent was enough for the umpiring crew, who ejected him without so much as giving Ausmus a reason.

“Fortunately, it didn’t turn into anything major, no punches were thrown or anything; no blood was drawn,” Ausmus said. “For me, it’s ancient history now.”

Read more:

Watch Little Victor Martinez take batting practice

Tigers' Daniel Norris tried to pitch through injury, dug 'deeper hole'

Perhaps Rondon will be soon. If the Tigers want to preach accountability, Joe Jimenez — who has not allowed a run in more than a month at Triple-A Toledo — should be in his spot on Friday.

Overall, there were a bunch of blunders in the Tigers’ latest loss, which dropped them to 10 games under the .500 mark.. Nick Castellanos misplayed another ball at third base. Chad Bell was late to cover first base. Iglesias’ poor baserunning was the latest in a long list of follies this season. And after one at-bat, a frustrated Upton slammed his helmet down, which ricocheted up and smacked him in the lip, further infuriating him.

In relief of Rondon, Romine retired two batters, allowed one hit and struck out one batter. He wasn’t around after the game, making a statement by not opting not to glorify his second-ever appearance on the mound, which, in a season of lows, represented the lowest the Tigers have been.

Contact Anthony Fenech: afenech@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @anthonyfenech.

Download our Tigers Xtra app for free on Apple and Android devices!