Royals can’t overcome early deficit in Thursday’s series finale against Guardians
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Seth Lugo allowed three first-inning runs in the loss.
- Royals issued eight walks and the Guardians converted some into runs.
- Bobby Witt Jr. and Vinnie Pasquantino hit consecutive homers but the Royals still lost.
Kansas City Royals right-hander Seth Lugo didn’t have his best command on Thursday afternoon against the Cleveland Guardians.
It cost him.
The 36-year-old pitcher was ineffective from the start at Kauffman Stadium. The Guardians (20-19) unveiled an all left-handed lineup against him and the strategy worked.
Lugo, who entered the series finale with .260 opponent’s batting average and .664 OPS, allowed three first-inning runs as the Guardians beat the Royals 8-5.
“They put up some good approaches there in the first,” Lugo said. “And (we were) just in a hole before I made the adjustment.”
KC fell to 17-21 and split the four-game series. Lugo took the loss after surrendering seven hits and four walks in four innings.
The Guardians hit Lugo hard in the first inning. He allowed five of the first six batters to reach with a base hit. Cleveland stars Steven Kwan and Jose Ramirez got aboard with singles and later scored on Kyle Manzardo’s two-run double.
Daniel Schneemann added an RBI single and Lugo needed 29 pitches to escape the first inning. And from there, Cleveland continued to drive up his pitch count.
“In that first inning, a few guys were going the other way and a couple of guys were more pull side,” Lugo said. “So it took getting through the lineup the first time to figure out what they were trying to do to make the adjustment.”
Lugo threw his 75th pitch in the third inning. He missed with his fastballs and also failed to land his off-speed pitches.
The 2024 All-Star departed early and reliever Daniel Lynch IV took over. The Royals utilized their bullpen while attempting to make a comeback at the plate.
“I always want to pitch deeper, especially after yesterday’s game,” Lugo said. “But (we) probably could’ve used the challenges more. That probably would’ve made my pitch count a lot better. Probably would’ve saved a lot of frustration in the first. But you know, it is what it is.”
They had two early bases-loaded opportunities that netted just two runs. Jac Caglianone rolled over on a first-pitch swing with the bases loaded in the first inning. One run scored on Nick Loftin’s sacrifice fly.
“We talk about it all the time, you’ve got to get them out there to score them,” Quatraro said. “So you’ve got to keep giving yourself opportunities. And some days you cash them in and other days you don’t. Today (it) clearly wasn’t enough.”
Walks hurt the Royals dearly — Kansas City’s pitchers combined to issue eight — and the Guardians cashed in. In the seventh, Royals rookie Eric Cerantola walked Travis Bazzana and Brayan Rocchio back-to-back.
Cleveland’s Bo Naylor followed with a three-run homer. He belted a 92.7 mph fastball over the right-field wall. It was his second home run of the season and gave the Guardians an 8-2 lead.
The Royals got two runs back in the bottom half of the seventh, when Bobby Witt Jr. and Vinnie Pasquantino hit consecutive homers off right-handed reliever Connor Brogdon.
It’s the first time the Royals have hit back-to-back homers since Sept. 20, 2025 against the Toronto Blue Jays. (Witt and Pasquantino drove those out, too.)
The Royals would draw no closer, however. In the eighth, Pasquantino represented the tying run against lefty specialist Erik Sabrowski. But he struck out swinging to end the inning.
“I’ve got to be better when they are out there,” Pasquantino said of performing with runners on base. “Gotta put the ball in play and make something happen. And just be better.”
With the series’ outcome, the Guardians maintain a 2 1/2-game lead over the Royals in the American League Central standings. KC also trails the Tigers (18-20) and White Sox (17-20) in a tight yet still-early divisional race.
Chicago and Detroit were off Thursday.
“We started off this series well,” Pasquantino said. “We came into this series playing really good baseball. We just didn’t do enough the past few days. Get back on it tomorrow.”
The Royals welcome the Tigers to Kauffman Stadium on Friday. The three-game weekend series offers KC another chance to make up ground.
What’s next: The Royals will start left-hander Kris Bubic (3-1, 3.32 ERA) in Friday’s series opener against the Tigers. He will oppose Detroit right-hander Keider Montero (2-2, 3.48 ERA) at The K. First pitch is set for 6:40 p.m. Central Time.
This story was originally published May 7, 2026 at 4:36 PM with the headline "Royals can’t overcome early deficit in Thursday’s series finale against Guardians."
