Right-hander Zebby Matthews pitched five strong innings to win his big-league debut as the Minnesota Twins pulled away for a 13-3 victory over the Kansas City Royals on Tuesday night in Minneapolis.
Max Kepler went 2-for-4 with a homer and four RBIs to lead Minnesota. Jose Miranda fell a homer shy of the cycle and drove in two runs for the Twins, who will go for a three-game sweep on Wednesday.
MJ Melendez and Salvador Perez each hit a solo home run for Kansas City. Michael Massey went 2-for-4 with a double and an RBI.
Matthews (1-0) added another highlight to a dazzling season that he started at Class-A before he earned promotions to Double-A, Triple-A and the majors. The Twins’ 2022 eight-round pick out of Western Carolina limited the Royals to two runs on five hits and no walked with five strikeouts.
Matthews, 24, outdueled Royals right-hander Seth Lugo (13-7), who surrendered eight runs (seven earned) on nine hits in four-plus innings. He walked two and struck out four.
Twins relievers Steven Okert, Caleb Thielbar and Josh Winder combined to pitch four scoreless innings, preserving the victory for Matthews. Minnesota’s pitchers did not issue a walk and fanned nine.
Lugo and the Royals fell behind 3-0 in the bottom of the first. Royce Lewis started the scoring with an RBI single, and later in the inning a throwing error by Royals third baseman Maikel Garcia allowed two more runs to score.
Melendez hit a solo shot to cut Kansas City’s deficit to 3-1 in the second.
In the third, Miranda made it 4-1 when he doubled home Matt Wallner.
A solo homer by Christian Vazquez increased Minnesota’s lead to 5-1 in the fourth.
The Royals pulled within 5-2 on Massey’s RBI double in the fifth.
A three-run bottom of the fifth helped the Twins put the game out of reach. Kepler hit an RBI single, ending Lugo’s night. Manuel Margot drove in another run with a single off reliever Chris Stratton, and Vazquez added a sacrifice fly.
Perez’s solo shot brought the Royals within 8-3 in the sixth.
Kepler continued his big day with a three-run shot in the bottom of the frame.
Kyle Farmer finished the scoring with a two-run homer in the seventh.
–Field Level Media