How the Kansas City Royals’ stars showed up in a win over the Toronto Blue Jays
It looked like the Kansas City Royals were destined to be on the wrong side of history Wednesday afternoon.
Toronto Blue Jays starter Chris Bassitt was dealing. He hadn’t allowed a hit through five innings and was working on a career outing. The Royals couldn’t decipher his pitch movement as the outs continued to pile up.
“He was definitely mixing it up really well,” Royals outfielder Kyle Isbel said. “He has about eight different pitches and he was putting it wherever he wanted. He was really tough and throwing the ball well.”
Then, the sixth inning happened.
Isbel broke up the no-hit bid with a leadoff double. Next, Maikel Garcia dropped down a sacrifice bunt as Isbel moved up 90 feet.
That set the stage for the heart of the Royals lineup. Royals star Bobby Witt Jr. hit an RBI single to score the game’s first run. Later, Vinnie Pasquantino produced an RBI double and Salvador Perez followed with a single.
“It’s just scratch one (run),” Isbel said. “You’ve got to whatever you’ve got to do to get on base.”
Michael Massey added an RBI groundout and the Royals were suddenly ahead with a comfortable 3-0 lead. Bassitt allowed three earned runs in six innings of work.
“(Isbel) set the tone with that double and we go from there,” Perez said. “We got the win.”
KC flipped the game. In turn, the Royals’ starting pitcher, Seth Lugo, was buoyed by a wave of momentum.
Lugo was equally impressive in Wednesday’s pitchers’ duel. He allowed one run and two hits in seven innings. Blue Jays catcher Danny Jansen accounted for the only damage: a solo home run that cleared the left-field wall in the seventh.
“I thought it went pretty well,” Lugo said. “I was keeping them off-balance and executing pitches. I felt in the middle of the game, I got away from filling up the strike zone a little bit. But I was able to get some weak contact.”
The Royals bullpen protected the lead. Chris Stratton pitched a scoreless frame before turning it over to Nick Anderson to finish out the ninth inning.
KC improved to 19-13. The Royals finished .500 (3-3) on their six-game road trip to Detroit and Toronto.
Missed previous games of the series?
Game 1: Royals drop 3rd consecutive game in 6-5 loss to Blue Jays
Game 2: Cole Ragans shines as Royals even series with 4-1 victory in Toronto
Here are more notable aspects of Wednesday’s game:
Seth Lugo records 6th quality start
Lugo continued his rampage to begin the 2024 season. He earned his sixth quality start and now sports a 1.60 ERA through seven starts.
A lot has been made of the right-hander’s aggressive approach. On Wednesday, he attacked the Blue Jays by staying in the strike zone and throwing 61 of his 101 pitches for strikes.
“With how well (Bassitt) was pitching early, I knew I had to keep putting up zeroes,” Lugo said. “I couldn’t really go at guys. I had to make sure they were quality pitches. That kept me locked in and making sure I executed the right pitch.”
As a result, Lugo notched eight strikeouts and just two walks. He relied primarily on his sinker, four-seam fastball and breaking ball. His slider registered seven swings and three whiffs.
Lugo has five wins this season. He’s tied for first in wins and ranks sixth in ERA across the majors.
“It’s fun to watch,” Royals manager Matt Quatraro said. “It’s becoming one of those things where he can do whatever he wants with the ball: sink it, cut, up, down. The breaking ball is impressive.
“And he just throws so many strikes. You know, if he misses, they are so small misses (the Blue Jays) have to honor those as well.”
Michael Massey adds exclamation point
Massey sealed the Royals’ victory in the eighth inning with a three-run homer off relief pitcher Nate Pearson.
The blast traveled 357 feet, sailing over the right-field wall to give the Royals a 6-1 lead. His second home run in as many nights also drove in Witt and Pasquantino.
When asked it he’d made any adjustments, Massey said he worked on his vision at the plate.
“I think it’s mostly my eyes,” he said. “I feel like that’s the thing I have been focused on, just seeing the ball in those at-bats. I know it sounds simple, but just trying to see the ball as early as I can out of (the pitcher’s) hand and try to make good decisions.”
Massey finished 1-for-4 with four RBIs Wednesday. In KC’s three-game series in Toronto, he had three hits and seven RBIs.
What’s next on the KC Royals’ schedule?
The Royals are off Thursday before returning home to open a three-game home series against the Texas Rangers at Kauffman Stadium.
Royals right-hander Brady Singer will start against Rangers veteran right-hander Michael Lorenzen on Friday night. First pitch is set for 6:40 p.m. Central.
This story was originally published May 1, 2024 at 4:37 PM.
