Where the Royals fell short in Thursday’s series opener vs. White Sox at The K
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Royals offense stranded in scoring chances, going 2-for-27 with RISP recently.
- Seth Lugo delivered quality start but allowed two runs in 2-0 loss.
- Defense aided Lugo, but Royals dropped third straight; Kris Bubic scheduled next.
The Kansas City Royals’ offensive woes continued on Thursday night.
Despite getting a quality start from All-Star starting pitcher Seth Lugo, the Royals fell 2-0 in a series-opening game against the Chicago White Sox at Kauffman Stadium.
Lugo allowed one two runs in 6 1/3 innings. He scattered four hits and kept his pitch count manageable. There were quick outs — sans the four walks he issued — and some great defensive plays.
“I thought I threw the ball pretty good,” Lugo said. “Too many walks. I ... want to pitch deeper in the game. So those walks kind of hurt me there, especially toward the end.”
Lugo just didn’t receive any run support. The Royals came up short in key scoring opportunities and it proved costly.
In the third inning, Bobby Witt Jr. reached with a one-out double. It was a good chance to take an early lead.
But, Witt was stranded on the base paths. Vinnie Pasquantino struck out on three pitches and Salvador Perez popped out to end the inning.
A similar scenario occurred in the seventh. Maikel Garcia and Witt got aboard with two-out singles. They represented the tying runs as Pasquantino stepped to the plate.
Pasquantino faced White Sox reliever Grant Taylor. He saw two pitches before grounding out to second base to end the inning.
“It’s a tough stretch of baseball,” Pasquantino said. “It’s not OK. And no part of it are we happy with how we are playing. ...
“You’ve got to go out there and perform. So honestly, it starts with me. You can’t have your three-hole hitter hitting the way that I am right now. So (we’ve) got to get back to the drawing board and figure some things out and go from there.”
Entering Thursday’s game, the Royals’ Nos. 1-5 hitters were batting .164 with runners in scoring position (RISP) — ranking last in the majors.
In their last four games, the Royals are 2-for-27 with RISP. And the offense hasn’t strung together multiple hits. The Royals logged just three hits against Chicago left-hander Anthony Kay in 5 2/3 innings.
“He’s throwing like 98 (mph), good slider, changeup and everything good,” Garcia said. “He commanded his pitches and did his job.”
Kay won his first game since June 24, 2021. He spent his last two seasons with the Yokohama Bay Stars in the Nippon Professional Baseball Organization in Japan.
While the Royals struggled, the White Sox (5-8) took advantage of their own chances. Colston Montgomery hit a RBI double that rolled past Lane Thomas in right field. Munetaka Murakami came around to score as Chicago took a 1-0 lead.
“He looked like he took a very steep angle and went straight across,” Royals manager Matt Quatraro said of Thomas’ defensive play. “Probably thought he was going to get to it right away. And then, at that point when it got by him, he had to chase it.”
Luisangel Acuña added a sacrifice fly in the seventh. And those runs stood up as the Royals (5-8) dropped their third consecutive game.
“I mean, you’ve got to give credit to the whole pitching staff,” Quatraro said. “That was nine innings of 96-plus (mph) velo. (Kay) pitched in to righties and his sinker was really good, hard. He threw a lot more strikes than he has been.
“He threw the sweeper when he needed to and the cutter was hard. So it was an impressive pitching performance.”
Bobby Witt Jr. turns in a defensive highlight
Witt made a terrific play to rob Murakami in the sixth inning.
He snared a line drive — one that registered a 101.6 mph exit velocity off the bat — up the middle. The baseball nearly skipped away from his glove, but Witt corralled it and started a 6-3 double play.
“The play was insane,” Pasquantino said. “I’m sure it will be a top-10 play, as it should be. It was incredible.”
Witt stepped on second base and threw a strike to Pasquantino at first. The defensive gem helped Lugo get out of a potential jam.
“Off the bat, you know, I’m thinking get my glove up,” Lugo said. “Don’t let it hit me. But I turn around and see Bob there, and he made a great play. And I dabbed him up there in the middle of the inning. So that was awesome — and Vinnie on the pick, too.”
Last season, Witt won his second Gold Glove — in addition to a Platinum Glove — for his work as a shortstop. He has a career .975 fielding percentage in five seasons with the Royals.
What’s next: Royals left-hander Kris Bubic (1-1, 4.09 ERA) will start Friday’s game against the White Sox at Kauffman Stadium. He will oppose right-hander Davis Martin (2-0, 2.45 ERA), with first pitch set for 6:40 p.m. Central Time.
This story was originally published April 9, 2026 at 9:22 PM.
