MILWAUKEE — In the run-up to his first big league start of the season, Minnesota Twins right-hander Zebby Matthews admitted that he had struggled with walks in a few of his minor league starts in 2025, but felt that his stuff had been good.
On Sunday at American Family Field, Matthews’ stuff generally was good, with five strikeouts in just three innings of work, but ultimately a series of walks proved to be his undoing.
Three Brewers who had gotten free passes in the third inning came around to score as Milwaukee beat the Twins 5-2 in the finale of their Rivalry Series, snapping the second-best win streak in franchise history at 13.
“Couldn’t get it done today. An amazing run over the last two weeks. I had to tell the guys that after the game,” Twins manager Rocco Baldelli said. “There’s a lot of work to be done, and I told them we’re just kind of scratching the surface as far as what we’re capable of this year. That was just a great run of baseball, one of the best two-week spans of baseball I’ve ever been a part of in my life, and we want to get it going again tomorrow and start a new one.”
The Twins begin a three-game series against Cleveland on Monday at Target Field. First pitch is set for 6:40 p.m.
Royce Lewis hit a homer, and was inches from a second, but Minnesota ultimately could not overcome Milwaukee’s early lead.
“It goes back to the walks there. It’s hard to get away with three walks in an inning regardless of the pitcher,” said Matthews, who only walked three. “Ultimately, get the two quick outs, (I’ve) got to finish the inning there. Definitely got to be better there.”
Matthews ran the Twins’ team record scoreless innings streak to 34 in the first, striking out the side on 11 pitches. But Milwaukee finally made a mark on its massive, and malfunctioning, scoreboard in the second inning.
Christian Yelich and Rhys Hoskins both singled and advanced on a sacrifice bunt by Isaac Collins. When Sal Frelick dropped a single into right field, Yelich came in from third for the first Brewers run of the series.
After getting two quick outs in the third, Matthews made more trouble for himself, walking the bases loaded, then surrendering a two-run single to Collins, and another RBI single to Frelick as Milwaukee opened up a 4-0 lead. Matthews, who fell to 0-1 with the loss, ended up throwing more than 40 of his 71 pitches in that inning, which prompted a pitching change.
“It started out really strong. The fastball and the breaking ball all looked good. He throws a good cutter, as well, and he mixed that in,” Baldelli said. “But that inning, I think what happened was he probably lost the command a little bit. He threw a couple of strikes that he didn’t get calls on, and that doesn’t necessarily mean he would have gotten through the inning clean or anything like that. But it’s tough.”
Minnesota finally had an offensive answer in the top of the fourth when Lewis hit a 2-1 pitch over the left field fence for his first home run of the season. The Twins got a pair of walks and an error in the inning to load the bases with two outs, but Ryan Jeffers flew out to right to end the threat.
After reliever Cole Sands set the Brewers down in order in the fourth, Kody Clemens sent a ball to the wall in deep center with two outs in the fifth, but Milwaukee outfielder Jackson Chourio gloved it at the top of the fence.
Minnesota got a run back in the seventh, and was inches from tying the game in the eighth when Clemens led off with a double, then Chourio produced a web gem, leaping to pull a potential Lewis home run off the top of the fence in left center.
“If he doesn’t catch that, I think we win the game, for sure. It changes the momentum,” said Lewis, who noted the Twins are a confident bunch, despite the winning streak’s conclusion. “When a pitcher is smiling because he knows he got away with one, you know you’re in a good spot. I think we’re riding high. I know we lost today, but we had a great two weeks there. That was really awesome, and for me to be a part of it with these guys is special. We’re just going to keep going. We’re just getting started.”
With two outs, towering outfielder Carson McCusker made his major league debut as a pinch hitter and grounded out. He played right field in the bottom of the eighth.
After Minnesota pitchers had retired 13 straight Brewers, Milwaukee manufactured an insurance run in the eighth when William Contreras walked, went to second on a wild pitch, advanced on a grounder and scored on a sacrifice fly.
Royce Lewis #23 of the Minnesota Twins runs the bases following a home run against the Milwaukee Brewers during the fourth inning at American Family Field on May 18, 2025 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. (Photo by Stacy Revere/Getty Images)
Royce Lewis #23 of the Minnesota Twins is congratulated by teammates following a home run against the Milwaukee Brewers during the fourth inning at American Family Field on May 18, 2025 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. (Photo by Stacy Revere/Getty Images)
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