When Royals first baseman Vinnie Pasquantino got to the stadium Monday, his mind was still in a fog from the Royals’ 2-7 road trip.
“I thought it was Friday when I got here today,” Pasquantino said after the Royals’ 4-1 win against the Marlins at Kauffman Stadium. “I thought we were in the City Connect uniforms. It’s Monday — it’s not even close. That’s about as far away from Friday as you get. That’s how miserable the road trip was, that’s how bad we played. I don’t even know what day it is. But I know tomorrow’s Tuesday and that’s a step in the right direction.”
Pasquantino, Salvador Perez and Hunter Renfroe all homered as the Royals snapped a three-game slide. The Royals didn’t score a run in their final two games over the weekend against the Rangers but scored three in the fourth as Pasquantino and Perez hit back-to-back homers.
Pasquantino’s blast ended a 25-inning scoreless streak for the Royals offense, and Perez’s blast ended an 0-for-17 slump for the Royals’ All-Star catcher.
“We’ve been harping on all year, last year, day by day,” Pasquantino said. “Today was a good day, move on to tomorrow.”
Before the Royals (43-37) do that, however, they’ll surely take a minute to appreciate Cole Ragans’ latest performance. Ragans struck out 11, giving up one run on four hits with three walks in six innings and 108 pitches.
“I’m just trying to win,” Ragans said. “That’s our biggest thing. If I get a lot of swing and miss, a lot of whiffs, that’s pretty cool. But at the end of the day it’s all about winning.”
For Ragans (5-5), it marked his first win in a month, as he hadn’t earned a victory since May 22 against Detroit.
“He was really good,” said Royals coach Paul Hoover, who again filled in for manager Matt Quatraro. “Notoriously they swing early, but they were pretty patient versus him, driving that pitch count up. And he needed every one of his pitches to get through six. But he battled, he battled the heat, and he battled the pitch count and a tough lineup.”
