That followed an opening weekend 18-10 loss away at Ulster but it was this weekend's clash that irked Townsend.
"To lose on such a big occasion like this, and when we believe it was so much of our own doing, is very hard to take," he said.
"We had 21 turnovers compared to the opposition's 13 and that's going to put you in a very difficult place to win."
Captain Al Kellock was in agreement with his boss, and he took little comfort from a solitary Chris Cusiter try against the Welsh region.
"It is very frustrating," he said. "We're here to win and we haven't won our first two games. We're here to improve and win. That's all we're here for and we'll be working even harder to achieve that.
"[Scarlets] didn't have to do much. It was a similar story to last week in that we gifted them tries and when we had the ball we knocked it on, gave forward passes, ran isolated, kicked the ball dead and did all sorts of things that you just can't do. We're not where we need to be."
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