Final Score: BAL 5 | KC 0

Overall Record: 13-9

Winning/Losing Pitcher

• W: Cole Irvin (1-1 | 4.64 ERA)
• L: Seth Lugo (3-1 | 2.03 ERA)

Key Highlights

Truly there wasn’t really a lot going on for the Royals in this one. So a player of the game seems for naught. But we have to highlight how Seth Lugo kept this team in the game. Baltimore was definitely hitting it all over the park with a bunch of exit velocities above 100mph. That’s where you gotta tip your hat to Lugo a bit. He didn’t have his best stuff today but he kept it a two run game going into the sixth. Which is all you can ask for from a starting pitcher, but that doesn’t win it for you all the time. You can’t have the offense score 15 runs in the first two games and lay a goose egg in the rubber match of a series.

The Orioles were the ones on display today, with home runs from two red hot hitters, Colton Cowser and Jordan Westburg. As well as RBI hits from Ryan Mountcastle and Ramon Urias. This Baltimore team is one of the best teams in the MLB for a reason. They will hit you from anywhere in the lineup, and if you think that that’s all the hitters they have, you’d be wrong. They have all kinds of reinforcements with Top-100 prospect ratings, so this team you’ll have to compete with for a while. And for the first two series’ of the year they did, but in this one they just came up short.

Bright side in this one for the Royals would be: Vinnie extending his hitting streak to ten games, and Salvador Perez walking two times(which is actually crazy, if he can walk, it’s over for the league). Other than that, Cole Irvin kept this squad in check to the tune of 6.2 scoreless innings only allowing four hits. The offense just went freezing cold after seemingly being unstoppable. Which is what has been happening for the 2024 Royals so far. They are still second in all of baseball in run differential,  only trailing Cleveland (puke) by four runs. So statistically, this team is killing it, but if you watch the games, you’ll know that they’re streaky. The other side of the coin is that they will burst for a bunch in an inning if they get the ball rolling, and opponents become so scared of what they can be. But sometimes, like today, Cole Irvin will look like prime Clayton Kershaw.

Summary of the Next Game

New week equals a new series, and the Toronto Blue Jays come to town after winning six of their last eight. Justin Turner is red hot, and the rest of that lineup will be eager to keep it going. The Royals send out Brady Singer to try get back in the win column after a couple losses in a row for the boys in blue. He has had plenty of experience with getting this team back on track, so hopefully he can do it against a star studded lineup. Yusei Kikuchi will head to the mound for the Jays, and he’s been really solid this year, holding a 2.08 ERA in his first few starts. The Royals offense will try to get it back in their rhythm against a lefty that has some good numbers against them in the past. Monday, 6:40, Kauffman Stadium, the boys will try to get back on track.

Image Credit: Charlie Riedel, Associated Press