Fresh off contract extension, Seth Lugo guides Royals to key victory over Braves
Kansas City Royals ace Seth Lugo walked calmly to the mound at Kauffman Stadium in the first inning.
Not much had changed, physically. He was the same All-Star pitcher and 2024 runner-up for the American League Cy Young Award. And he still had a variety of pitches to attack the very best of opposing lineups.
The circumstances around him, however, had changed. The Royals rewarded Lugo with a two-year contract extension that ties him to the organization through 2027 with a vesting option for the 2028 campaign.
Lugo was compensated for his stellar production. Now, he’s tasked with helping the Royals make a second-half postseason surge.
On Tuesday, Lugo propelled the Royals to a 9-6 victory over the Atlanta Braves. He allowed three earned runs across 5 ⅔ innings while registering five strikeouts.
“I thought it went pretty well, you know, except obviously towards the end,” Lugo said. “I thought I was executing pitches pretty well most of the game.”
Lugo cruised twice through the Braves lineup, but the third time was a little tricky. In the sixth inning, Braves stars Austin Riley and Marcell Ozuna blasted a pair of home runs to help Atlanta get back in the game.
“I got into a really good groove and just started working a little too fast and started leaving some breaking balls up,” Lugo said. “Need to do better next time of realizing that, you know, after the first extra-base hit or something. And be able to make that adjustment faster.”
The Royals, who raced to an early four-run lead, held a slim advantage as the Braves scored three runs in the frame. Lugo departed with the bases loaded but was bailed out by his teammates.
KC reliever Hunter Harvey was called upon from the bullpen. He just returned from the 60-day injured list and faced Braves leadoff hitter Jurickson Profar. Harvey forced Profar to fly out as he stranded all three baserunners.
Due to Harvey’s hold, Lugo remained the pitcher of record. He later got critical run support as the Royals scored four runs in the bottom of the sixth.
“He’s pitched in a lot of big spots in his career,” Royals manager Matt Quatraro said of Harvey. “He’s been a high-leverage reliever and that’s what he wants to be doing again. And we have all the confidence in the world. He would’ve been doing that all year had he been healthy, right? He feels good and that was the right spot for him.”
New Royals acquisition Randal Grichuk sparked the late rally. He drew a walk against Braves reliever Enyel De Los Santos to load the bases. From there, Kyle Isbel hit a three-run double to fuel a five-run inning.
“Really good at-bat by him right there,” Royals first baseman Vinnie Pasquantino said of Grichuk. “You know, it’s a guy that’s new to the team and trying to prove himself to the team in a way. He sees eight sliders in a row, or whatever it was, and he is able to spit on a fastball in. That’s huge for the team in that situation.”
The Royals (53-55) held on to even the midweek series. The Braves (45-61) recorded their sixth loss in their last seven games.
“We all know what we are capable of doing,” Isbel said. “... We are locked in right now and we are just going to keep it going.”
Vinnie Pasquantino shines at The K
The Royals first baseman set the tone Tuesday against the Braves.
In the first inning, Pasquantino homered off Braves starter Erick Fedde. He hit a 91.2 mph cutter into the right field seats as the Royals got on the board early. It was his 18th home run and moved him one shy of his career high mark set in 2024.
“It’s nice that I’m able to be balanced and get to those pitches,” Pasquantino said.
Pasquantino added an RBI double in the sixth. He finished 3-for-5 as the Royals collected 12 hits.
Since June 22, Pasquantino has hit safely in 22 of 30 games while recording 17 extra-base hits, 24 RBIs and 13 runs.
What’s next: The Royals conclude their six-game homestand Wednesday afternoon against the Braves. KC will start left-handed reliever Angel Zerpa in the series finale. The Braves will turn to left-hander Joey Wentz (2-2, 5.76 ERA).
This story was originally published July 29, 2025 at 9:59 PM with the headline "Fresh off contract extension, Seth Lugo guides Royals to key victory over Braves."
