Zebby Matthews struck out five and allowed one run in 8 1/3 innings, and the Minnesota Twins cruised to a 5-1 win over the Chicago White Sox on Sunday afternoon in Minneapolis.
The right-hander scattered five hits and came within two outs of recording a complete-game shutout for Minnesota, which staved off a three-game sweep. The victory snapped a four-game losing streak for the Twins.
Josh Bell went 2-for-4 with a pair of RBIs to lead Minnesota at the plate. Trevor Larnach doubled and drove in a pair of runs.
Braden Montgomery drove in the lone run for Chicago, whose four-game winning streak ended.
Matthews (9-8) won his fifth straight start for the Twins. Fans booed when manager Derek Shelton removed him from the game with one out in the ninth and brought in Jeff Hoffman, who allowed one inherited runner to score.
White Sox right-hander Jordan Hicks (2-2) served as the opener and took the loss. He allowed three runs on one hit and two walks in two-thirds of an inning.
The Twins opened the scoring in the bottom of the first. Bell singled to right-center field to drive in Brooks Lee.
Moments later, Larnach doubled to right to drive in Ryan Jeffers and Bell and boost the Twins’ lead to 3-0.
Bell continued his hot hitting in the third. He drove in Jeffers on a single to left to make it a 4-0 lead in favor of Minnesota.
Luke Keaschall belted a solo shot to boost the Twins’ lead to 5-0 in the seventh. The blast to center marked his ninth home run of the season.
The White Sox finally got on the scoreboard in the top of the ninth.
Sam Antonacci and Miguel Vargas each singled off Matthews before Montgomery came up with two outs. The rookie outfielder came through with a single up the middle to score Antonacci.
Hoffman settled down after that to seal the victory for Matthews. He got Colson Montgomery to pop out to third to end the game.
