Final Score KCR 3 | OAK 2

Overall Record 42-34  (2nd Place, 6 GB)

Winning/Losing Pitcher 

• W: James McArthur (4-3, 3.85 ERA)
• L: Vinny Nittoli (0-1, 2.25 ERA)
• SV: Chris Stratton (4, 4.83 ERA)

Royals Player of the Game

Freddy Fermin – 3-for-4, 2 R, 2 HR, 2 RBI

It was the Freddy Fermin show this Thursday! He was absolutely on fire in this game. Fermin got the scoring started early as he hit a solo home run in the second inning. He followed that solo home run with another solo home run in the fourth. You can’t ask much more from your backup catcher. With Salvy getting older and needing less time behind the plate, Fermin has been a breath of fresh air. Every time his bat is in the lineup, it isn’t like you are losing any offense. He shows up each and every day ready to produce. 

Key Highlights 

Seth Lugo was absolutely dominant in this one. Lugo covered 6.2 innings while giving up six hits, two earned runs, and striking out seven. The Athletics couldn’t get anything going off of Lugo until Zack Gelof hit a two-run home run in the bottom of the seventh. Gelof has been single-handedly destroying the Royals all series. Thankfully, Bobby Witt, Jr. came up in the top of the eight and hit a solo shot to give the Royals the lead. Luckily, that was enough as the bullpen held on to the win (even though it was shaky. McArthur, Zerpa, and Stratton had a lot of traffic, but kept the Athletics off the board. 

Summary of the Next Game

The Royals will be excited to leave Oakland after losing two of three to the last-place team in the AL West. They face a bigger challenge as they head to Texas to take on the reigning World Series Champion Rangers. RHP Brady Singer (4-4, 3.39 ERA) takes the mound for the Royals against RHP Nate Eovaldi (3-3, 3.15 ERA)