Pasquantino, Lugo lead Royals to 7-1 win

They call him Two Homer Vinnie, these days

Kansas City officially began the final third of the season today with a particularly important slate of game. Beginning with four games against a sub-.500 team in Detroit before playing their chief Wild Card competitor in the Red Sox. The vital stretch began with a strong performance. Led by Vinnie Pasquantino and Seth Lugo, the Royals took the series opener in Detroit with a 6-1 win.

The Royals jumped all over Tigers starter Keider Montero, starting the game with a single and walk from Maikel Garcia and Bobby Witt Jr. Pasquantino blasted the first pitch he saw over the right field fence to give Kansas City a 3-0 lead before recording an out.

Aside from the first inning, both teams were relatively quiet on offense through six innings. The Royals followed up Vinnie’s homer by recording outs in 15 of their next 16 at-bats, as Montero settled in nicely. Kansas City starter Seth Lugo was cruised through Detroit with little trouble. Back to back singles to lead off the 4th inning resulted in a sacrifice fly, cutting the Royals lead to 3-1. However, that was all the Tigers would manage against the All-Star.

The offense responded three innings later. Michael Massey started the 7th inning rally with a one-out double, scoring on n Freddy Fermin’s RBI single, making it a 4-1 game.

Kansas City opened the flood gates the following inning. Bobby Witt Jr hit his 20th homer of the season, followed immediately by Vinnie’s 2nd homer of the game, putting the Royals up 6-1. Bob added another run on a double the next inning to make it a 7-1 game, with Kansas City scoring runs in each of the last three innings.

Pasquantino’s two homers overshadow another strong performance from Lugo. He silenced Detroit for 8.0 innings, giving up just four hits and one walk. His ERA falls to 2.57 while securing his 12th win. Will Smith took over in the 9th to bring home the win.

Kansas City moves to 61-49 while the Tigers fall to 52-58.

Up Next: Royals at Tigers, Friday, August 2, 5:40 PM CDT. LHP Cole Ragans (7-7, 3.37 ERA) v. (TBD)