Rookie Zebby Matthews wins MLB debut as Twins crush Royals 13-3

Minnesota Twins rookie Zebby Matthews won his Major League debut Tuesday night against the Kansas City Royals as the home team won in blowout fashion 13-3 at Target Field.

The 24-year-old right-hander threw five innings on 77 pitches, allowing two earned runs on five hits, walking none and striking out five. Matthews looked settled in at the MLB level, as he started the season in High-A Cedar Rapids and quickly ascended to the big leagues in a matter of months.

Minnesota's bats walloped Kansas City's pitching staff, especially off Royals starter Seth Lugo to get things going.

The Twins scored three runs in the first, including two off a throwing error by Royals third baseman Maikel Garcia that scored Royce Lewis — who smacked an RBI single earlier — and Matt Wallner.

Jose Miranda drove in Wallner off an RBI double in the third, followed by a solo homer by catcher Christian Vazquez in the fourth, his seventh of the season. Miranda finished a home run shy of the cycle.

Lugo was chased after four innings, giving up nine hits, eight runs (seven earned), two walks and fanning four. He entered the game with the fifth-best ERA in MLB (2.72) and left with the 11th best (3.04) after his outing Tuesday night.

The Twins picked up three more in the fifth inning to make it an 8-2 game but they were far from finished with their offensive onslaught. Kepler hit a three-run home run in the bottom of the sixth inning — his eighth of the season — and Kyle Farmer hit his first of the year in the bottom of the seventh, a two-run homer to left center.

Farmer — the veteran team captain — was hit with the silent treatment when he entered the dugout.

Minnesota wins when Farmer plays. After Tuesday night, the Twins are now 44-25 when the 33-year-old takes the field and 23-27 when he doesn't. He was activated from the injured list last week.

The Twins are now 7-2 against the Royals this season as they head into the final game of a three-game series on Thursday. They've outscored their AL Central rival 21-6 in two games played so far.

Minnesota (66-52) stands four games back for the first-place Cleveland Guardians (71-49) in the AL Central as the Royals (65-54) are 5.5 back of Cleveland and 1.5 back of the Twins. Minnesota also holds the second AL Wild Card spot, 1.5 games above Kansas City.

Twins manager Rocco Baldelli indicated he's leaning towards having St. Paul native Louie Varland take the mound for Minnesota on Wednesday afternoon. It would be Varland's first start since last week against Cleveland, when he allowed three runs across 4.2 innings in a spot start.

As for the Royals, southpaw Cole Ragans (9-7, 3.27 ERA) is expected to snap the team's skid. First pitch is scheduled for 12:10 p.m. CT.