Seth Lugo pitched three scoreless innings in his third spring start, and the Royals beat the Rangers 4-2 on Friday in Surprise, Ariz.
Lugo didn’t allow a hit and struck out two — a stark contrast to his previous start against Cleveland when he gave up five runs in 2 1/3 innings including three home runs.
“I felt pretty good,” Lugo said. “I felt like I was locating most of my pitches. Still working through some of this dry air so the curveball stayed up a little bit more than I’d like today. But I feel like everything else was located pretty well for the most part.”
Lugo threw just 13 pitches — all strikes — in his longest outing of the spring. He also didn’t allow a baserunner.
“I thought it was a good step forward,” Lugo said.
Royals manager Matt Quatraro said Lugo kept the ball down and was in complete control.
“Worked quickly,” Quatraro said. “Salvy said he was hitting his spots every time. He probably had a better angle than I did. Efficient, looked really confident.”
Lugo, 34, signed a three-year, $45-million contact with the Royals in free agency after spending last season with the Padres. Prior to that Lugo spent the first seven seasons of his career with the Mets.
Lugo has spent most of his career as a reliever but started 26 games last season for the Padres. Now he’s trying to build stamina as the Royals’ season opener is just three weeks away.
“The big thing is pitch count, building up,” Lugo said. “I feel like working on specific pitches more heavy on bullpen days or in games. But really, it’s about volume. So once we get the volume up, I’ll be in a good spot.”
Michael Massey hit a two-run homer in the second, and Salvador Perez had an RBI-double in the sixth. Lefty Daniel Lynch IV pitched three innings and gave up one run.
