Seth Lugo was signed to help bolster the Royals starting rotation and be a veteran presence for the young pitchers. Now, he might start the All-Star Game.
Lugo pitched six scoreless innings and earned his MLB-leading 11th win Sunday as the Royals beat the Cleveland Guardians 6-2 at Kauffman Stadium.
Lugo struck out 10, walked one and scattered four hits while allowing only one runner to reach second base. Lugo also lowered his ERA to 2.17, tops in baseball. He also leads the majors in innings pitched (116) and quality starts (14).
“It’s really hard to quantify or come up with new ways to talk about how good he’s been,” Royals manager Matt Quatraro said. “And with all those lefties in there, for him to be able to get in on some of them, stay away from some of them, go up, go down with it, whatever he had to do he was executing.”
Lugo did so despite taking a comebacker off his left wrist in the first inning. Lugo admitted it was hard to catch throws from catcher Freddy Fermin, but he stuck it out.
“I thought it went pretty well,” Lugo said. “I was able to keep them off balance especially after taking that liner in the first. I was able to stay focused and keep making pitches. I was a little weak on that front side, so I really had to focus on staying on mechanics.”
The Royals gave Lugo some support early, scoring single runs in the first and second and tacking on two more in the fifth. They extended their lead to 6-0 when Salvador Perez hit a two-run home run in the seventh.
Perez, who played first base, had three RBIs while Bobby Witt Jr. and Vinnie Pasquantino each had three hits to pace the Royals offense. With the win, Royals (47-39) also took the four-game series 3-1.
The Royals, however, are third in the division standings, seven games behind Cleveland (52-30) and one game back of the Twins.
“After that tough one yesterday we really wanted that series win and we were able to get it today,” Lugo said. “We know where we’re at, we know where they’re at in the standings. And to go out and perform and just do what we do and control what we control, that’s what we did today.”
UP NEXT
The Royals wrap up the homestand with a three-game series against the Tampa Bay Rays beginning at 7:10 p.m. Tuesday. RHP Zack Littell (2-5, 4.17 ERA) will start for the Rays while Brady Singer (4-4, 3.12 ERA) will start for the Royals.
