How Royals flipped script in Sunday’s series-clinching win vs. Seattle Mariners
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Royals scored four runs in the fifth to erase Seattle’s lead.
- Seth Lugo tossed 6 1/3 innings, allowing three runs on 86 pitches.
- Royals won 8-3, improved to 22-31, and won the season series 5-1.
The Seattle Mariners were an out away from untangling a messy fifth inning against the Kansas City Royals on Sunday afternoon.
And the Royals ultimately made them pay.
The Royals had runners in scoring position with no outs at Kauffman Stadium. But Mariners starting pitcher Bryan Woo found a way to retire KC stars Maikel Garcia and Bobby Witt Jr. in succession. Woo just needed one final putout.
After falling behind 2-0 in the count against Royals first baseman Vinnie Pasquantino, the Mariners right-hander elected to intentionally walk Pasquantino to load the bases.
That turned out to be a big mistake. Royals captain Salvador Perez hit a two-run single and rookie catcher Carter Jensen added a two-run double.
Those four runs erased Seattle’s slim advantage — initially secured by Julio Rodriguez’s first-inning home run off KC starter Seth Lugo — and gave the Royals an 8-6 victory to close out the second series of their nine-game homestand.
The Royals opened the homestand with four consecutive losses. They had timely hits and better luck in clutch situations in their last two games.
In Sunday’s decisive fifth inning, the Royals attacked Woo at the plate. Michael Massey worked a leadoff walk and Kyle Isbel followed with an infield single. Both runners advanced when Woo threw wildly to first base.
The Royals were set up offensively. Woo got Garcia to ground out with the infield in and Witt to fly out to shallow center field. Yet he couldn’t find the strike zone against Pasquantino.
Perez laced a 96.2 mph sinker into left field. Then, Jensen hit a double off the left-field wall that drifted away from Mariners outfielder Randy Arozarena.
The two KC catchers combined for five RBIs in the victory. The Royals went 4 for 11 with runners in scoring position (RISP).
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The offensive outburst helped Royals starter Lugo. He pitched 6 1/3 innings, allowing three runs on 86 pitches for his second victory of the season against four losses.
Lugo absorbed Rodriguez’s early home run and settled into his start. He surrendered six hits, walked two batters and recorded three strikeouts. And after scoring in the first inning, the Mariners wouldn’t score again until the seventh.
Seattle infielders Colt Emerson and J.P. Crawford hit RBI singles to cut into the lead. This prompted Royals manager Matt Quatraro to turn to his bullpen — Daniel Lynch IV, John Schreiber and Lucas Erceg nailed down the victory.
Erceg didn’t look sharp after a long layoff from pitching. Because of game situations, he had not thrown in a game for a week. The Mariners scored three runs off him in the ninth, but he was able to regroup and avoid a blown save.
Before Erceg entered the game in the ninth, the Royals gave KC’s bullpen some needed cushion. Maikel Garcia hit a two-run single to expand the hosts lead to five runs in the eighth.
With the win the Royals improved to 22-31 this season. They welcome the New York Yankees to begin a three-game series on Memorial Day.
Seattle (25-29) committed three errors Sunday. The Royals won the season series 5-1, after sweeping three games from the Mariners in Seattle earlier in the season.
What’s next: Royals right-hander Michael Wacha (4-2, 2.70 ERA) will start Monday afternoon against the New York Yankees. First pitch is set for 2:40 p.m. Central Time.
