Seth Lugo struck out 10 batters in seven impressive innings, and Salvador Perez hit two singles that drove in runs, reaching 100 RBIs for the second time. The Kansas City Royals defeated the New York Yankees 5-0 on Tuesday night.
Lugo was pitching in New York City for the first time since his seven seasons with the Mets from 2016-22 and he was outstanding.
“I’m looking forward to going back and watching that, to be honest, because he must have been on the corners all night,” said Kansas City manager Matt Quatraro. “He got the breaking ball going to get the swing and miss. He elevated when he needed to. I mean, that was a pitching clinic.”
Tommy Pham hit a home run, and Bobby Witt Jr. had an RBI single for the Royals, who stayed 3 1/2 games behind first-place Cleveland in the AL Central. They have a 2 1/2-game lead over Minnesota for the league’s second wild card.
New York’s lead in the AL East was reduced to a half-game over second-place Baltimore, which won 5-3 at Boston.
“We know they’re in line to make the playoffs,” Lugo said. “With the atmosphere here in New York, I think the emphasis for a lot of guys on the team is getting used to this kind of atmosphere. This is what we’re going to face.”
In a potential playoff preview, Lugo (16-8) dominated a strong Yankees lineup that leads the majors in home runs and ranks second in runs scored.
“That was probably as good a performance (as there’s been) against us this year. We were silent,” said New York manager Aaron Boone. “He’s throwing the kitchen sink at you. He’s changing speeds.”
Lugo allowed only three singles and did not walk any batters, retiring 17 straight after Gleyber Torres’ bloop hit to start the bottom of the first inning.
Torres broke the streak with another soft single off Lugo with two outs in the sixth inning.
“I think he was mixing up pitches really well tonight. He was pounding the strike zone,” said Yankees slugger Juan Soto.
