DETROIT -- A couple of frustrating trends continued for Zebby Matthews and the Twins in a 7-2 loss to the Tigers on Wednesday at Comerica Park, the finale of a disappointing six-game road trip.
Matthews’ woes in the first inning and on the road both popped up in the right-hander’s shortest start of the year. Matthews was chased after 2 1/3 innings, allowing five runs on just two hits and four walks.
And as a result, the Twins’ road struggles were extended as well. Minnesota has lost seven straight road series and hasn’t won a series away from home since the All-Star break. A 2-4 road trip brought the team’s record to 5-7 over what was viewed as a pivotal stretch of games against teams around them in the standings, with three home games coming up against Cleveland looming as an opportunity to gain direct ground in the American League Wild Card race.
Detroit jumped on Matthews early, when he walked Hao-Yu Lee with one out in the first and Colt Keith followed with a home run. It was the seventh first-inning homer Matthews has allowed in 21 starts this season. He got through the second without incident, but walked three of the first five batters in the third and was removed for reliever Travis Adams.
“I’ve never really struggled to command and throw strikes like that,” he said. “Body feels good. I was trying, honestly, there at the end to throw it down the middle, and I wasn’t able to do that. So very, very frustrating. Very embarrassing out there.”
Matthews has lasted five or fewer innings eight times this season, and seven of those games have come away from Target Field. He’s not the only Minnesota pitcher who has found the going tough away from home, though. The Twins’ 5.22 road ERA as a team is the highest in MLB.
Manager Derek Shelton cautioned against making too much of Matthews’ home-road splits, and it’s definitely possible they’re just statistical noise. But the team’s inability to string wins together away from home has undeniably been costly.
This one certainly wasn’t just pitching, though. It was a quiet day for the Twins offense as well, held to a pair of solo homers by Keider Montero and a string of Detroit relievers.
“We got pitched to, I don’t want to take any credit away from what they did,” Shelton said. “And he was aggressive, [Tigers manager A.J. Hinch] was aggressive with his bullpen and went to it in the fifth and was able to match up, but we did not have very good at-bats today.”
Minnesota remains 4 1/2 games behind the Guardians for the final AL Wild Card spot with 16 games to play. The Guardians come to Target Field for a three-game series starting Friday. It’s not too late to make a run, but it feels like it has to start with that series.
“I think the losses sting a little bit more now because we know it’s crunch time, but at the end of the day, you just have to come back and keep fighting,” said Josh Bell, who homered. “That’s the mentality. Come back, continue to get to work. Continue to do the best we can to put ourselves in position to get hot. There’s still time for us to put a streak together and go to the postseason. But yeah, it’s go time. It really is.”