Nicky Lopez puts on show for friends and family as Kansas City Royals beat Cubs
The Kansas City Royals play three series per season in Chicago by virtue of being in the same division as the Chicago White Sox.
But this trip is different for Naperville’s Nicky Lopez.
This time, the undersized and often overlooked middle infielder from outside of Chicago came to town to play in Wrigley Field. And he put on a show in Saturday’s 4-2 win over the Cubs.
Lopez collected three hits, including a double, an RBI and two stolen bases — including the back half of a double steal when Whit Merrifield stole home — while playing in the friendly confines of Wrigley and the historic ivy-covered outfield walls.
“Wrigley is one of those ballparks that I grew up kind of watching,” Lopez said. “It was always on TV. It was WGN every single day, it seemed like, with my grandpa and my family because they were big Cubs fans growing up. Now, they’re Royals fans.”
Lopez, 26, described playing in that ballpark as a “dream come true” and the atmosphere as “electric.”
Of course, it didn’t hurt that he had pockets of friendly faces in attendance around the stadium.
Lopez said he only had to get about nine passes for the game and quipped that he wasn’t totally playing for free.
He also had friends in the right-center field bleachers and others in the upper deck as well as family and family friends.
They saw Lopez go 3 for 5 and record his fourth three-hit game of the season.
He entered the day batting .316 (55-for-174) since June 15, fifth-best in the American League among players with a minimum of 160 at-bats during that span.
Lopez was on base in each of the first two innings, including a double in the game’s second at-bat.
He drove in a run with a single up the middle in the second inning.
Then in the seventh, he worked the double steal with his double-play partner Merrifield. Then Lopez went on to steal third base in that inning.
“It definitely was special, just to be able to perform and help our team get a W, day in and day out that’s what I try to do,” Lopez said. “Just to be able to do that here in front of my family and friends in a place where I’ve never played before and grew up watching was super special.”
Lopez and Merrifield were catalysts on offense. Merrifield batted leadoff with Lopez in the No. 2 hole.
They combined for six of the team’s nine hits, drove in or scored three of the four runs and registered three of the club’s four stolen bases.
“To me, this is Royals baseball,” Royals manager Mike Matheny said of Lopez and Merrifield. “Grinding, fighting to get on base, putting pressure on, taking the extra bag. We executed a double steal. Just making things happen by using every skill set that you have.
“These guys are such good baserunners, not just speed but good baserunners. It’s something that every team has got to be aware of. You love it when you have one guy at the top that’s setting that tone, let alone having two.”
This story was originally published August 22, 2021 at 5:00 AM.
