Matthews had made his MLB debut with a 13-3 victory over Kansas City on August 13. He’s now 1-2 after his fourth MLB start, coming in a season when he made 18 appearances in three minor league levels and pitched two innings. He did so despite walking off the mound trailing 9-0 after he allowed those three two-run homers.
Included was Blue Jays center fielder Daulton Varsho’s 419-yard smash to center field on a 2-2 fastball that drove in lead-off hitter George Springer ahead of him.
First baseman Vladimir Guerrero Jr. singled to center after that and cleanup hitter Spencer Horwitz homered 381 feet to center field, on a 1-0 count. Catcher Alejandro Kirk doubled a batter later and after a mound visit to Matthews and a ground-rule double, Kirk scored to make it 5-0 still in that first inning.
Last place in the AL East, Toronto scored twice more in the first for that 7-0 lead before they scored two more in the second and then two more in the third off reliever Michael Tonkin.
The Blue Jays batted around the order in the first inning. The damage might have been even worse to the Twins had Matthews not struck out Springer and Varsho to end the inning.
Matthews threw 62 pitches in his two innings, giving up nine runs on 10 hits. Of the six outs he recorded, five of them were strikeouts.