Pasquantino one shy of Royals' record with homer in fourth straight game

KANSAS CITY -- Another day, another homer for Vinnie Pasquantino.

In a four-game series in which the Rangers kept challenging him, the red-hot Royals first baseman was set on meeting the challenge. Pasquantino did it again on Thursday afternoon, snapping a fifth-inning tie with a laser-beam homer to right-center that served as the springboard for Kansas City’s 6-4 victory at Kauffman Stadium.

For Pasquantino, it was the fourth consecutive day in which he homered off Texas pitching. He is now one shy of tying the club record of five consecutive games with a homer, which was accomplished by Salvador Perez from Aug. 25-29, 2021, and Mike Sweeney from June 25-29, 2002.

The series finale homer for Pasquantino was especially timely. Texas had scored three in the top of the fifth to tie the game, 4-4, capitalizing on a Bobby Witt Jr. error that came on a tailor-made double-play ball hit by Rowdy Tellez that would have gotten Kansas City out of the inning unscathed.

But Pasquantino wouldn’t allow the Royals to stay in the doldrums for long. On Kansas City’s 8-2 homestand, Pasquantino had six of the club’s 19 homers. He now has 26 homers this season, and 15 of those have given the Royals a lead.

After Pasquantino put the Royals up 5-4, a bases-loaded walk to Luke Maile provided an insurance run in the seventh.

“We took care of business this homestand,” Pasquantino said. “It’s pretty strong.”

The 8-2 record equals the best for Kansas City in a 10-game homestand. The Royals last accomplished that feat from Aug. 7-16, 2015, their World Series Championship year.

“Now that [the homestand] is over, you reflect on what you’ve done, and it went well,” Royals manager Matt Quatraro said. “There’s a lot of things that went our way. Some things didn’t, but you can’t be disappointed with that.”

Even in the two losses, the Royals were tied entering the ninth inning of both games. The positive trends centered on a homer-happy offense led by Pasquantino and a resilient bullpen that came to the rescue again on Thursday.

Starter Michael Lorenzen had an unfortunate fifth inning when two bloop singles and the Witt error led Quatraro to call on his bullpen with the game tied, 4-4. Quatraro mixed and matched with the unit of Angel Zerpa, Daniel Lynch IV, John Schreiber, Taylor Clark and Carlos Estévez. In every key matchup, the Royals’ relievers delivered.

“Those guys were phenomenal,” Quatraro said. “As much as they’ve worked, and then to come in and keep the game where it was, you have to tip your cap to those guys.”

At 66-62, Kansas City is sitting just outside the final American League Wild Card spot. A road trip to Detroit and Chicago awaits, and the Royals will try to keep winning games while casting an eye toward what the Yankees, Red Sox and Mariners are doing.

Pasquantino said he’ll do a bit of scoreboard watching amid all his hot hitting.

“Maybe a little,” Pasquantino said. “But it doesn’t affect how I prepare. It’s fun to be a part of. You get to be a fan. Or a hater.”

The Royals know that their playoff chances will continue to rise if they can build on what they accomplished during the homestand against the Nationals, White Sox and Rangers. They drew eight walks on Thursday, which hints at how careful Rangers’ pitchers were trying to be in an effort to avoid the barrels of Kansas City’s bats.

“The approaches have gotten better, and it has put pressure on pitchers in different ways,” Pasquantino said. “We’re hitting the ball out of the park at a better rate, which means guys have to be more careful with where they go in the strike zone. It’s how the game works. You make an adjustment, they make an adjustment.”