MINNEAPOLIS– Zebby Matthews threw five crisp innings to win his major league debut for the Minnesota Twins, who hit Seth Lugo hard and gave the All-Star right-hander his worst start of the season. The Twins beat the Kansas City Royals 13-3 on Tuesday night.

Matthews (1-0) allowed two runs on five hits with no walks and five strikeouts, the latest and most significant performance from the 24-year-old right-hander who began the season in Class A. His first strikeout? None other than All-Star Bobby Witt Jr.

“The first strikeout definitely helped calm the nerves,” Matthews said.

Matt Wallner (three runs, two hits) and Jose Miranda (three hits, two RBIs) led the barrage against Lugo (13-7), and Max Kepler (three runs) and Kyle Farmer (two runs) hit home runs out of the bullpen. Christian Vázquez also hit a home run for the Twins, who got eight of their 15 hits for extra bases in a rousing show of support for the rookie.

“You can go out there and attack the zone, just do your best and try to get guys out,” Matthews said. “It definitely helps a lot.”

Minnesota kept pace with AL Central leader Cleveland but was still 3.5 games behind. Kansas City fell six games back. The Twins (67-52) and Royals (65-55) control the second and third wild-card spots.

The first four batters reached against Lugo, the major league wins leader, who was having by far the shortest of his 25 starts this year. Already trailing 5-2, he allowed three hits and a walk early in the fifth inning before being replaced. Lugo had worked at least six innings in all but four of his turns up until that inning.

Lugo had nine hits, a career-high eight runs, two walks and four strikeouts. One run was unearned when third baseman Maikel Garcia made a throwing error that put Miranda on base and gave the Twins their fourth consecutive batter to reach base early in their first inning.

“We have a great lineup. Everyone brings a great shot,” said Vázquez.

Wallner started the game with a diving catch against the left outfield wall to steal a home run from Michael Massey, and Matthews didn’t need much help after that.

The 2022 eighth-round draft pick from Western Carolina provided a steady stream of routine groundballs and showed off his excellent control by dodging a solo home run by MJ Melendez in the second inning and an RBI double by Massey in the fifth. In 102 combined innings across four levels this season, Matthews has just seven walks and 119 strikeouts.

“He’s got pretty good stuff. I think he’s going to be a pretty good pitcher in the major leagues,” said Royals catcher Salvador Perez, who hit his 22nd home run in the sixth inning.

The Twins may keep Matthews in their rookie rotation with Joe Ryan and Chris Paddack out.

“It’s definitely special, but you don’t stop working just because you made it here,” Matthews said. “There are a lot of things you can keep doing and improving, so get back to work.”

The Twins have won 18 of their last 20 games against the Royals at Target Field, a period of dominance that saw them outscore them 123-56. The Twins’ overall record against the Royals this year is 7-2.

“They’re good,” said Royals manager Matt Quatraro. “They have a strong team. They have guys who can do a lot of different things.”

TRAINING ROOM

Twins center fielder Byron Buxton was unable to make the lineup due to discomfort in his right hip and was taken out of the game early on Monday. However, an MRI test showed no abnormalities.

Next

Royals: LHP Cole Ragans (9-7, 3.27 ERA) will pitch Wednesday afternoon. The Opening Day starter is the sixth-leading strikeout player in MLB.

Twins: RHP Louie Varland (0-4, 6.46 ERA) was on pace to start the final game of the series, becoming the 27th player to pitch 4 2/3 innings in the second half of a doubleheader sweep against Cleveland on Friday.

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AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/MLB