Nelson Velázquez and MJ Melendez both hit home runs and brought in two runs each, guiding Seth Lugo and the Kansas City Royals to a convincing 10-1 win over the Chicago White Sox on Thursday night.
Hunter Renfroe, playing in right field, made a crucial throw to prevent the White Sox from tying the game in the sixth inning, just before the Royals surged ahead with eight runs in the seventh.
Velázquez got things started by driving in the first two runs of the game with a single and a homer. “I was just focusing on making solid contact,” he said. “I’m feeling confident, trusting in all the work we’ve been doing since spring training.”
Lugo (1-0) put on a solid performance, allowing just one run and eight hits over 6 2/3 innings for his first win with the Royals. It was another impressive outing by one of Kansas City’s starting pitchers, who have collectively maintained a 1.43 ERA.
“Seth came out strong right from the start,” commented Royals manager Matt Quatraro. “He threw a lot of strikes and mixed up his pitches well. He induced a lot of groundballs.”
Lugo recorded three strikeouts and two walks. Angel Zerpa came in to relieve him in the seventh inning, retiring Andrew Benintendi with a runner on second to preserve the one-run lead.
“I thought I executed some good pitches,” Lugo remarked. “They managed to get some soft hits.” On the other side, Michael Soroka (0-1) pitched well for the White Sox, giving up only two runs and six hits over six innings in his second start for the team.
The Royals took an early lead with an RBI single by Velázquez in the second inning. Although the White Sox loaded the bases with just one out in the third inning, shortstop Bobby Witt Jr. made a crucial play by turning a double play to end the threat.
Velázquez extended the Royals’ lead to 2-0 in the fourth inning with a powerful homer into the left-center fountains. Chicago finally got on the scoreboard in the sixth inning, ending a scoreless streak of 25 innings, when Andrew Vaughn singled to bring home Yoán Moncada.
But the Royals broke the game wide open in the seventh inning. Deivi García walked two batters and allowed a single to pinch-hitter Adam Frazier, setting up a big inning for Kansas City. Kyle Isbel drove in two runs with a single, and Maikel Garcia brought in another, prompting García’s exit.
Dominic Leone then walked Witt before an error by shortstop Braden Shewmake allowed three more runs to score.
“The walks hurt us,” commented Chicago manager Pedro Grifol. “Anytime you walk two guys, you’re asking for trouble. It was just one inning where things got away from us. We made a couple of mistakes, both in terms of fundamentals and physically, that we need to clean up.” Finally, MJ Melendez capped off the inning with his first homer of the season, a two-run blast.
