KANSAS CITY -- After a rough start to August, Seth Lugo looked much more like himself as he maneuvered and pitched through his start on Tuesday night.
And it could not have come at a better time.
Lugo entered the night with a 10.66 ERA across three starts this month but spun 6 1/3 innings of two-run ball on Tuesday, guiding the Royals to a 5-2 win over the Rangers at Kauffman Stadium.
Tuesday marked the Royals’ fifth consecutive win and seventh in eight games on this homestand with two more left to play against the Rangers. After Tuesday’s slate of games, Kansas City moved a half-game ahead of Cleveland as the first team out of the postseason, sitting 2 1/2 games out of an American League Wild Card spot. At 65-61, the Royals are four games over .500 for the first time since May 25.
The playoff push is real, it’s here, and it’s gaining steam.
“We like where we’re at,” first baseman Vinnie Pasquantino said. “We like where we’ve been. We need to keep doing it.”
That started with getting Lugo back on track. The 35-year-old righty had not looked like what the Royals have been used to, even going back to his first start out of the All-Star break. Tuesday’s quality start was his first since July 23, ending a four-start span in which he had an 8.84 ERA (18 earned runs in 18 1/3 innings).
Lugo’s 6 1/3 innings marked his most since July 3 in Seattle, and pitching deep into the game was as important as anything with the Royals’ two highest-leverage relievers, Lucas Erceg and Carlos Estévez, unavailable Tuesday night. Manager Matt Quatraro turned to lefty Angel Zerpa for 1 2/3 innings and John Schreiber to close out the ninth for his first save of the season.
“It’s part of the game,” Lugo said of his recent struggles. “You play long enough that you go through stretches like that. Learn from the past. You try not to overthink it. You try to just do your job and go about your business the same way. Expect that if you have confidence when you’re out there pitching, you’re going to get through it.”
The Royals’ offense backed Lugo with home runs again, including back-to-back days with homers from Pasquantino and Mike Yastrzemski. After Jonathan India’s hit-by-pitch with the bases loaded gave the Royals the lead, Bobby Witt Jr. hit his 100th career home run, becoming the youngest Royal to reach that mark and just the fourth player in MLB history to reach 100 homers and 100 stolen bases in his first four seasons (Bobby Bonds, Darryl Strawberry and Julio Rodríguez).
But Tuesday was always going to be about Lugo, who desperately needed a bounce-back outing after his recent rocky trend and whom the Royals will be relying on if their playoff hopes become reality.
It was apparent that Lugo looked more like himself from the first inning. Despite the two-out home run he allowed to Corey Seager in the opening frame, Lugo was in much more command of his pitches and not falling off armside so much.
He got into a groove after the first, with the only other damage coming on a solo homer from Joc Pederson in the fourth inning.
“I tried to smooth my mechanics out a bit, and felt like I could have the same arm speed on all my pitches,” Lugo said. “Try to keep it the same thought process, the same attack plan, but try to be a little smoother and execute better.
“It’s just a little feeling being slower down the mound. I was working a little too quickly and I was able to correct that.”
It’s hard to overstate how much the Royals need Lugo at his best, anchoring a rotation that has seen its fair share of injuries this year. Kansas City views him as one of its top starters for this year and beyond, which is why he signed the two-year extension a month ago that keeps him here for good.
So the recent rough patch hardly led to any panic internally. But seeing him right the ship allowed everyone to take a little bit of a breath.
“The results are what matter in this game, and a lot of times, it’s not something physical that needs to be done, especially with a guy like that who’s been doing this for so long,” Quatraro said.