Brice Matthews Posts 3 Hits With 109.7 mph Homer

Brice Matthews gave the Astros a rare jolt on April 28, 2026, going 3-for-4 against the Orioles with a home run, double and single. The 24-year-old rookie entered the game after a rough start and left with his early line looking far less fragile.

Matthews Breaks Through

The biggest swing came in the fifth inning, when Matthews drove a 109.7 mph, 387-foot home run off Shane Baz. He later added a 77.7 mph double with a.390 xBA against Andrew Kittredge and a single off Anthony Nunez, turning four plate appearances into three hits.

That kind of day had been absent from his rookie season. Entering play on April 27, Matthews was slashing.136/.224/.273 with a 40% strikeout rate, a line that left very little margin for error every time he stepped in. One game did not erase that start, but it moved the numbers in a clear direction.

Orioles Pitching Answers

Baz, Kittredge and Nunez all saw Matthews square them up at different points, and the contact quality was part of the story. The homer was the loudest ball, but the double and single showed a hitter working through the at-bats instead of living on one swing.

His wRC+ jumped from 40 to 82 in four plate appearances. For a rookie trying to stabilize his production, that is the most useful part of the line: he did not just reach base once, he stacked three separate hits against a major-league pitching staff.

Astros Need More

The Astros still need this version of Matthews again. A three-hit game can reset a line quickly, but the challenge now is carrying the contact into the next series instead of treating it as a one-off spike. For a 24-year-old still digging out from a slow start, that is the real test.