Jac Caglianone gave the Royals a sensational moment. Then they won in a rainstorm
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- Seth Lugo allowed seven earned runs and 14 hits across 6 ⅓ innings in the loss.
- Angels scored six early runs, and added four in the second, after Trout’s home run.
- Rain delayed play one hour and 29 minutes after Royals threatened a comeback.
Kansas City Royals outfielder Jac Caglianone didn’t start Sunday’s game against the Los Angeles Angels at Kauffman Stadium. But he provided one of the biggest hits of the night.
Caglianone came on as a pinch-hitter in the eighth inning for veteran teammate Starling Marte. An inning later, he hit a two-run homer off Angels reliever Drew Pomeranz. It was a left-on-left matchup and Caglianone prevailed by belting a 92-mph fastball just inside the right-field foul pole.
The homer tied the score with two outs in the bottom of the ninth. And it sent the game to extra innings.
Then the Royals provided another piece of magic in an 11-9 win that was moved up — and then delayed — by a rainstorm.
“I think it just kind of speaks for the team as a whole,” Caglianone said. “Doesn’t matter the situation, I think we are just going to be fighting for each other.”
First, though, things looked bleak. Royals closer Lucas Erceg threw a pitch that got by catcher Carter Jensen in the 10th. The passed ball allowed Adam Frazier, who represented the go-ahead run, to score from third.
However, Lane Thomas helped the Royals complete a six-run comeback with a walk-off three-run homer off Angels reliever Joey Lucchesi.
“You know, kind of the signature moment for him so far for us,” manager Matt Quatraro said of Thomas’ walk-off homer. “And it couldn’t have come at a better time.”
KC, after trailing 6-0 early, improved to 11-17 and extended its winning streak to three games.
Seth Lugo struggles early
The Royals did enough through nine innings to take starter Seth Lugo off the hook. Lugo allowed seven runs in 6 1/3 innings while dodging steady rain.
However, Lugo couldn’t overcome an aggressive Angels offense. They scored six early runs, and their seventh ultimately chased Lugo from the game.
“It’s a pretty strange day getting a wake-up call from the manager saying the game is gonna start early,” Lugo said. “So it was pretty unusual.”
Angels star Mike Trout belted a two-run homer in the first inning. He grooved an 88-mph cutter that caught the middle of home plate. It was Trout’s ninth home run as the baseball landed just beyond outfielder Isaac Collins’ outstretched glove.
From there, the Angels added four runs in the second inning. Frazier, who starred with the Royals last season, added an RBI double. Zach Neto followed with a two-run double. Jorge Soler concluded the frame with his 20th RBI.
The damage was done. Lugo salvaged his night, but his final line resulted in a no-decision.
Lugo entered Sunday’s game with the second-best ERA in the majors. His 1.15 ERA trailed only Angels starter Jose Soriano (0.24 ERA). However, the Angels ballooned that number in a hurry.
“I felt like I was making good pitches, so I just stuck with it,” Lugo said. “Obviously, they weren’t good enough, but I was happy with them. ... I’m challenging guys with, you know, location and speed changes. And usually that plays a little better. But today it didn’t.”
Lugo induced 59 swings but just seven whiffs. The Angels weren’t fooled by his cutter and slurve. Los Angeles recorded four hits on the cutter with an average exit velocity of 93 mph, per Statcast.
Royals keep chipping away
The Royals’ offense has struggled for most of the season. But that side of things bailed KC out Sunday.
In the sixth inning, Bobby Witt Jr. hit a two-run homer off Angels starter Reid Detmers. The blast snapped Witt’s homerless streak of 106 at-bats to begin the season.
Witt later added a triple.
Collins recorded an RBI single and later a solo homer that bounced off the right-field foul pole in the seventh.
Later in the frame, the Royals brought the tying run to the plate. Witt was set to face Angels pitcher Sam Bachman with two runners aboard.
The offensive rally had to wait. The umpires asked the grounds crew to tarp the field, which drew the ire of Quatraro as both teams retreated to the clubhouse.
Quatraro asked for clarification and left the field without a satisfactory expression.
“I was confused by it because we had said we were going to play that half-inning, and then they were going to tarp it,” Quatraro said. “Obviously, what we thought was coming, the real heavy stuff. So I was a little frustrated with the fact that we had gone out there, gotten something going and tarped it as opposed to waiting, playing through it or doing it prior to that.”
Both teams waited out the rain delay, which lasted one hour, 29 minutes.
When play resumed, the Royals found a way to close the gap. Caglianone sent the game to extras, and Thomas won it late. The Angels dropped to 12-17.
What’s next: The Royals are off Monday. Left-hander Kris Bubic (2-1, 4.08 ERA) will start opposite Athletics righty Aaron Civale (2-1, 3.86 ERA) on Tuesday at Sutter Health Park in West Sacramento, California.
This story was originally published April 26, 2026 at 8:48 PM.
