How Seth Lugo outclassed the Astros in a Kansas City Royals victory Friday night
The Houston Astros were reintroduced to vintage Seth Lugo on Friday night at Kauffman Stadium.
The Kansas City Royals veteran was masterful across eight innings in the club’s 2-0 victory. The Royals have now won five consecutive games after dropping six straight from April 14-19.
“To me, that was probably the best game I’ve seen him pitch,” Royals manager Matt Quatraro said. “I mean, his fastball had a ton of life and he was locating it. He mixed up all the different breaking balls. Right from the get go, it looked like he was incredibly sharp.”
Lugo surrendered three hits in the game. He relied on his four-seam fastball to get ahead of the Astros’ potent lineup. And the fastball set up his secondary pitches.
“When I was warming up in the bullpen, I noticed it had a little more life than it had been,” Lugo said. “So I just rolled with it after it felt good warming up.”
The Astros didn’t have many scoring chances. And when they did, Lugo worked out of trouble.
In the fourth inning, Astros third baseman Isaac Paredes recorded a two-out double. The line drive snapped Lugo’s streak of 11 consecutive batters retired to begin the game.
Parades had two of the three hits against Lugo. At each turn, Lugo avoided further trouble to retire the side in order. He punctuated the seventh frame by striking out left fielder Zach Dezenzo.
“That’s a good lineup and I continued to execute pitches throughout the game,” Lugo said. “There is a couple I would like back, but it’s always room for improvement.”
Dezenzo recorded three strikeouts. Lugo struck out eight while walking only one batter in the victory.
Houston finished 0-for-3 with runners in scoring position.
“The crispness of his pitches and the efficiency that he was working with was incredible,” Quatraro said.
Lugo didn’t need much run support. And the Royals gave him just enough to pick up his second win of the season.
The Royals manufactured both runs with sacrifice flies. Kyle Isbel drove home Drew Waters, who had two doubles, in the fifth inning. Hunter Renfroe followed suit as Vinnie Pasquantino scored in the sixth.
KC is now 10-4 at Kauffman Stadium this season and remains perfect on the current six-game homestand. The Royals (13-14) are a game below .500.
“We are just playing as a team,” Waters said. “When something happens with pitchers, the offense picks them up. When something happens with the offense, the pitchers pick us up. That’s what good teams do and we always have each other’s back. And it’s leading to a lot of wins.”
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Here are more notables aspects of Friday’s game:
Jonathan India reaches career milestone
It was a special night for Royals infielder Jonathan India. In the fifth inning, India recorded his 500th career hit against Astros starter Hayden Wesneski.
India lined a single in the frame. He became the 146th active player to reach 500 career hits.
The baseball was thrown out of play and kept in the Royals dugout.
“I didn’t know it was my 500th hit, but it’s definitely a big accomplishment,” India said. “And I’m grateful for it.”
India has hit a cold spell atop the Royals lineup. He entered Friday’s game hitting .200 with four RBIs. Nevertheless, the milestone hit was a step in the right direction.
“It’s baseball,” India said. “Every day I can’t really say how I’m feeling. It’s part of the game and got to keep going. Got to control what I can control and show up and be a good teammate. That’s all I can do.”
Bobby Witt Jr. extends hitting streak
Bobby Witt Jr. continues to scorch the baseball. He recorded his first three-hit game of the 2025 season against the Astros.
And he extended his hitting streak to a new career-best 17 games. Witt is hitting .371 (29-for-62) during the streak.
“He does everything the right way and I’m glad to be his teammate,” India said. “And, you know, he just keeps getting hits and that’s what he does. I’m excited to see the rest of the season.”
The Royals’ offense recorded nine hits in the victory. They have scored 19 runs on the homestand.
“He’s being pitched extremely tough,” Quatraro said of Witt. “For him to be able to put this many balls in play, use his speed and use the whole field is very impressive.”
What’s next: The Royals continue their three-game series against the Houston Astros at Kauffman Stadium. Royals right-hander Michael Wacha (0-3, 4.15 ERA) draws the start on Saturday against Astros ace Framber Valdez (1-2, 4.50 ERA).
This story was originally published April 25, 2025 at 8:51 PM with the headline "How Seth Lugo outclassed the Astros in a Kansas City Royals victory Friday night."
