Matt Quatraro defends Maikel Garcia bunt decision after Royals lose to White Sox
The Kansas City Royals had their chances against the Chicago White Sox on Friday night at Rate Field.
It seemed the Royals offense would carry over after their I-70 series victory earlier this week against the St. Louis Cardinals. Maikel Garcia and Vinnie Pasquantino did their part with consecutive homers in the third inning Friday.
Royals starter Seth Lugo was also solid across five innings. He allowed two earned runs and registered five strikeouts.
The teams were tied late in the game. But the White Sox surged ahead with five unanswered runs to earn a 7-2 victory.
The game turned in the eighth inning. And it started with one particular play.
The Royals had runners on first and second with no outs. Jonathan India reached base with a leadoff walk. Next, Bobby Witt Jr. singled to move the potential go-ahead run to second base.
Maikel Garcia was due up against White Sox right-handed reliever Jordan Leasure. Garcia got into a favorable 2-0 count but decided to drop a bunt down. The ball rolled back to Leasure, who threw a strike to third base to force out India.
The Royals lost their lead runner and now had an out. From there, Vinnie Pasquantino grounded into a fielder’s choice and Salvador Perez popped out to end the threat.
The White Sox scored five runs in the bottom half to win the game.
So why did Garcia bunt in that situation? Royals manager Matt Quatraro explained his thinking afterward.
“It’s a 2-2 game and we are having trouble getting something going,” Quatraro said. “Maikel is a good bunter and we get an opportunity to get Vinnie and Salvy at the plate with second and third with less than two outs. We are going to take that opportunity.”
The Royals were facing a tough pitcher. Prior to Friday’s game, Leasure had done a great job limiting runners in scoring position (RISP). Opponents were hitting .211 against him in those situations at the plate.
Garcia is arguably having an All-Star campaign. He entered hitting .311 and just tied his career-high with seven home runs earlier in the game. This season, Garcia is hitting .278 with 15 hits and 22 RBIs with RISP.
(Garcia wasn’t available to speak to reporters postgame due to getting treatment.)
Earlier this week, the Royals inserted Garcia into the third spot in the batting order. His job is to get on base in front of Pasquantino, Perez and top rookie Jac Caglianone.
Friday presented an opportunity to take the lead. Quatraro felt Garcia attempting to move the runners over was the right baseball play. But the results didn’t follow.
“I thought that was the right thing to do,” Quatraro said. “Leasure is tough to hit off of and we had already gotten two guys on base. Good opportunity for us there.”
Leasure made a great throw to get India. It was a close play that could’ve swung momentum back to the Royals. However, the White Sox executed and took advantage of the Roya’ls mistakes in the bottom of the inning.
It was the difference in the game.
“Just tip your cap,” Pasquantino said of his fielder’s choice. “That’s a really nice play and I’m glad we didn’t get doubled off. Yeah, I gave it my best shot. I wish I would’ve hit it a little bit more to the right, but I didn’t. Just got to live with it and tip your cap to him on that play.”
This story was originally published June 6, 2025 at 11:34 PM with the headline "Matt Quatraro defends Maikel Garcia bunt decision after Royals lose to White Sox."
