Zebby Matthews takes shutout into ninth in victory

Matthews had some unusual control issue today, walking four of the 13 hitters he faced. The first three batters who walked all came around to score. The fourth didn’t, but that was a bases-loaded walk that forced in a run. Matthews had been 5-1 with a 3.50 ERA and seven walks in six starts since the beginning of August. He’s probably not going to be worth using in mixed leagues against the Yankees next week.

The Zebster allowed three homers, the longest a two-run shot by Colson Montgomery that made it 4-0 in the fourth inning. He just wasn’t missing many bats, with a 15 percent whiff rate, while the White Sox had four hard-hit balls off his four-seamer. It snaps a nice run of starts for Matthews as he’d been 5-0 with a 2.90 ERA in August while striking out 24 and allowing just three homers. He’ll look to get back on track next week against the Tigers.

Matthews gave up six hits, walked one and struck out seven. He improved to 8-8 with the win. Matthews is 4-0 with a 3.65 ERA in four starts in August. He has a 4.86 ERA on the year. Matthews is lined up to face the White Sox at home on Sunday.

Matthews gave up five hits, walked one and struck out four. He improved to 7-8 with the win. Matthews has suddenly won his last three starts. He has a 5.12 ERA this year. Matthews is lined up to face the Athletics on the road next week.

Dylan Beavers’ three-run homer in the third was the big blow. However, the Twins immediately picked him up with four runs in the bottom of the inning and had a 7-4 lead when he departed after five. It’s Matthews’ second straight win after he went 0-3 in five starts in July. He’ll take a 5.34 ERA into his next start against the Braves.

Matthews noticed the issue while warming up prior to the sixth inning, which prompted a visit from the training staff and his eventual removal. It doesn’t sound like anything that should require a trip to the injured list, but be sure to monitor his status over the next couple of days to be on the safe side.

Matthews gave up a solo homer to Jackson Chourio in the bottom of the first inning and allowed three more runs to come across to score in the second inning as the Twins quickly found themselves down 4-0. The Twins would battle back and eventually give Matthews a 6-4 lead heading into the bottom of the fifth inning, but he would run into a bit of trouble when he loaded the bases with no outs to begin the frame. He would get Jake Bauers to hit into a sacrifice fly to retire his first batter of the frame, and forced Williams Contreras to fly out as well. Unfortunately, Garrett Mitchell would leg out an infield single on the next at-bat to draw the game even at 6-6. Matthews would make it through the inning, but was pulled while warming up in the sixth inning after trainers came out to speak with him on the mound. We don’t yet know the specifics of his injury, but this undoubtedly puts his next scheduled start, which is set for Wednesday against the Orioles, in jeopardy.

The 26-year-old hurler will rejoin the Twins’ rotation on Friday night against the Brewers, taking the place of the injured Joe Ryan (glute). Matthews has struggled in his time with the Twins this season, posting a 5.22 ERA, 1.31 WHIP and a 69/26 K/BB ratio over 81 innings in 14 starts. He’s not a recommended streaming option against the Brewers on Friday.

The move keeps Matthews on schedule, as he was set to pitch at Triple-A St. Paul on Thursday but was scratched following the injury to Joe Ryan. That’ll push Taj Bradley back to Saturday and Connor Prielipp to Sunday’s series finale.

The Twins suddenly have a vacancy in their starting rotation with Joe Ryan (glute) expected to land on the injured list, so Matthews will have another opportunity to show what he can do at the game’s highest level. The 26-year-old hurler holds a 5.22 ERA, 1.31 WHIP and a 69/26 K/BB ratio over 81 innings in 14 starts with the Twins this season.