Vinnie Pasquantino delivered against Astros on Saturday. Here’s why it mattered
Vinnie Pasquantino knew it as soon as it left his bat. The Kansas City Royals first baseman recognized the sound.
A loud thwack reverberated through Kauffman Stadium.
Royals fans leapt to their feet and tracked the baseball, which traveled 412 feet — well beyond the right-field wall. The home run propelled the Royals to a 2-0 victory over the Houston Astros.
“I was just looking for something out over the plate to hit,” Pasquantino said.
Pasquantino admired his handiwork for a brief moment before rounding the bases.
It had been a difficult stretch for him. Pasquantino entered Saturday’s game with a .184 average and one extra-base hit in his last 17 games.
Lefties were especially tough. Pasquantino had just three hits against left-handed starters this season.
In recent games, Royals manager Matt Quatraro slid Pasquantino down in the order. He batted seventh against Astros left-hander Framber Valdez on Saturday.
“Apparently, the seventh spot is really good for me against lefties,” Pasquantino said. “Two RBIs in two games. So, whatever they want me to do, I’ll do. If that’s what they see is best for the team, I’m all in.”
Quatraro doesn’t expect it to be a long-term switch. He felt Pasquantino would be served better against tough lefties in the spot but said that 99% of the time he will be in his customary No. 3 spot in the batting order.
“Hitting Vinnie seventh is not a lack of confidence in him,” Quatraro said. “It’s more of just trying to do what’s best for the entire team and the lineup.”
Valdez is one of the better ground ball pitchers in the league. In the fifth inning, Valdez greeted Pasquantino with an 88.2 mph changeup. The pitch was thrown toward the inside part of the plate.
But not far enough.
Pasquantino dropped his bat on the changeup. The home run generated a 108.4 mph exit velocity. It was also the Royals’ 13th homer of the 2025 campaign. KC has the fewest home run total in the majors.
“It was probably a little in, but I felt like I could get to it,” Pasquantino said. “I did and so I was happy with the swing.”
The Royals (14-14) shut out the Astros for the second consecutive night. The club has won six consecutive games and clinched a second series this homestand.
“We just focused on winning games,” Pasquantino said. “It’s good to hear but we’ve got to win one tomorrow to get above .500. We are back at it early tomorrow and we are ready for it.”
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Here are more notable aspects of Saturday’s game:
Michael Wacha adds quality start
The Royals registered three hits against the Astros on Saturday. The offense scratched across two runs to aid Michael Wacha on the mound.
Wacha didn’t mind. He followed suit behind teammate Seth Lugo with seven shutout innings of his own. The Astros (13-13) were held to six hits.
“There was no need to try to reinvent anything,” Wacha said. “He gave me a good template out there with what he did last night.”
Wacha pitched out of trouble to record a quality start. He worked around a single and walk in the sixth inning. He struck out first baseman Christian Walker with his slider and made a terrific defensive play to cover first base.
“It had some crazy spin on it,” Wacha said. “I thought I had a chance to get it myself at first. But, you know, we are taught, if you can’t get it standing up we don’t want to lay out and just kind of knock it down because nobody will be there. So, Sal was like a gato (cat in Spanish) over there. He was quick on his feet and made a play bare-handed and fired one over there to me. We were able to get them out.”
Wacha relied on his fastball to get ahead of hitters. The heater generated 13 swings and three whiffs, per Baseball Savant. The slider had good life as it was primarily used against right-handed batters.
“That’s the game right there,” Quatraro said. “Walker is one of the best hitters in the game over the past several years. To get him on that slider, that’s an enormous out.”
Wacha departed in the seventh inning. He allowed four hits, walked two batters and registered six strikeouts en route to his first victory this season.
Royals pitchers have a scoreless streak of 19 innings. The club produced back-to-back shutouts for the first time since last September against the Washington Nationals.
What’s next: The Royals conclude their weekend series against the Houston Astros on Sunday afternoon. KC lefty Kris Bubic (2-1, 1.45 ERA) will start against Astros standout Hunter Brown (3-1, 1.16 ERA) at Kauffman Stadium.
This story was originally published April 26, 2025 at 8:39 PM.
