In first game without injured Bobby Witt Jr., Royals get it done vs. Cardinals
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- Royals won 6-5 over the Cardinals in the first game without Bobby Witt Jr.
- Seth Lugo returned from the injured list and allowed one earned run over six innings.
- Jac Caglianone hit an opposite-field homer and now has 10 homers, tied for team lead.
The Royals passed their first test without Bobby Witt Jr. in the lineup, thanks in part to his replacement.
Tyler Tolbert, who has played six positions this season — even pitcher— made contributions with his bat and glove at shortstop as the Royals held off the St. Louis Cardinals 6-5 for their third straight victory.
“You never know when your name is going to be called,” Tolbert said. “You just have to be ready.”
That was the case throughout the game for Tolbert. In the sixth inning, after failing to get down a pair of bunts with a runner on third, he drove in a run with a sacrifice fly to deep center.
“To stay in the moment and be able to concentrate on that pitch, that was big for him,” Royals manager Matt Quatraro said. “That ball was smoked.”
Tolbert showed Witt-like range at shortstop throughout the game. But the highlight reel play came in the eighth when second baseman Michael Massey laid out and gloved a scorcher by Ivan Herrera up the middle.
Massey flipped the ball from his glove to Tolbert, who fired to Jac Caglianone for the out at first.
“One of the coolest plays I’ve ever been a part of,” Caglianone said.
“All that credit goes to Tolly,” Massey said. “In his first start (at shortstop), to have the awareness to be ready for that play. And I left the flip behind him. He stayed back, planted his feet and made a great throw.”
Friday marked the Royals’ first game without Witt, the star shortstop who suffered a Grade 1 MCL sprain in Thursday’s series opener. Quatraro said the Royals will know more about a return timetable for him when the teams conclude their series on Sunday (no game Saturday because of the World Cup match next door — more about that below).
The Royals will be going for a series sweep against the Cardinals.
Starter Seth Lugo made a triumphant return Friday nine days after taking a comebacker off his forehead in a game against the Texas Rangers. That scary incident landed him on the seven-day injured list.
“It was good to get back out there,” Lugo said. “I was dealing with some anxiety leading up. But I’ve dealt with injuries before, and the easiest way to get over that is to get back out there.”
Although the Royals weren’t as prolific as they were in their 14-6 victory Thursday — a game in which they set a club record with five doubles in an inning and logged 11 extra-base hits — the Royals got the job done, especially in the fourth inning.
They strung together four hits and a walk for a four-run frame. The line got started with Lane Thomas’ double and kept moving with RBI singles by Caglianone and Massey.
Isaac Collins got the big hit, a two-run double that one-hopped the left-field wall. It was the first of two doubles for Collins.
The Royals and Caglianone weren’t finished. In the fifth, Caglianone put a charge into a Michael McGreevey four-seam fastball on the outside corner, sending a laser-beam shot into the Cardinals’ bullpen in left field.
The blast made it back-to-back nights of opposite-field home runs for Caglianone, who now has 10 homers and shares the team lead with Witt and Salvador Perez.
Next: The Royals have a rare Saturday off-day before completing their three-game I-70 series against the Cardinals on Sunday. First pitch is 1:10 p.m.
Why Saturday off? A FIFA World Cup game between Ecuador and Curaçao will be played at neighboring Kansas City (Arrowhead) Stadium on Saturday at 7 p.m.
As for Sunday, right-hander Stephen Kolek (4-1, 2.68 ERA) is scheduled to start for the Royals opposite Cardinals right-hander Dustin May (5-6, 3.75).
This story was originally published June 19, 2026 at 10:03 PM.