Zebby Matthews finishes stellar August as Twins beat White Sox 5-1

Zebby Matthews took a perfect game into the sixth inning and pitched a career-high 8 1/3 innings as the Minnesota Twins beat the Chicago White Sox 5-1 on Sunday to avoid being swept by the American League Central leaders.

Josh Bell had a pair of RBI singles and Luke Keaschall homered for the Twins, who had lost four games in a row and sunk to 8 1/2 games behind Chicago and four games behind Cleveland in the Central and for the third wild card spot entering Sunday. The team also placed star center fielder Byron Buxton on the 10-day injured list before the game as he deals with a lingering hip impingement.

Trevor Larnach’s two-run double in the first inning supplied Matthews (9-8) with a 3-0 lead, and the 26-year-old took over from there.

He faced the minimum until Drew Romo broke up the perfect game...