'That was incredible': Lugo's 8 scoreless IP push KC to 5th straight win

KANSAS CITY -- The 2024 American League Cy Young Award runner-up gave reason to believe on Friday night that he’ll be in the conversation once again.

Seth Lugo dealt a season-high eight scoreless innings in the Royals’ 2-0 victory over the Astros in the series opener at Kauffman Stadium. Lugo struck out eight, walked one and needed just 94 pitches to record 24 outs. Lugo’s effectiveness resulted in a one hour, 58-minute game.

“To me, that was probably the best game I’ve seen him pitch, to be honest,” manager Matt Quatraro said. “ ... Right from the get-go it looked like he was incredibly sharp. To go through that lineup three times, they made him work a little bit there towards the end and needed some good defense there to get out of that, but the crispness of his pitches and efficiency he was working with was incredible.”

Lugo worked his nine-pitch mix to his advantage once again, attacking all parts of the zone with varying speeds and movement. He recorded two strikeouts with his cutter, four-seam fastball and sinker, and one with his slow curve and slurve.

“It was fun. I would always look back at the scoreboard and see what pitch he was throwing,” said Drew Waters, who had two doubles and one run scored. “With him, he’s got like 13 pitches to keep guys off-balance, so any time you get to watch a guy like that pitch, it’s pretty special.”

The only trouble Lugo faced was in the sixth, when Cam Smith worked a leadoff walk before advancing to second on a sacrifice bunt with Jose Altuve and Yordan Alvarez due up. Lugo got Altuve to ground out sharply and Alvarez to fly out to right to end the threat. Only one other runner reached second base.

Lugo faced just three over the minimum, aided by a tough double play turned by Bobby Witt Jr. and Michael Massey in the eighth, as Lugo lowered his ERA to 3.08 in the Royals’ first shutout win of the season.

“I thought I did a really good job of executing pitches, and I think that was one of the better fastballs I’ve had this year -- location and action on it,” Lugo said. “I changed speeds well and stayed in the zone very well, so I was pleased with that.”

The 35-year-old righty is known for his relentless game-planning, but he didn’t come into the outing with the intention of throwing a lot of fastballs. But he noticed the extra movement on it while warming up, and threw seven heaters in his first 12 pitches.

Lugo’s eight-inning gem was tied for his second longest outing as a Royal, only behind his complete game against the White Sox last July 21, but it was the ninth time Lugo has allowed three hits or fewer in 39 career starts with Kansas City.

“That was incredible,” said Jonathan India, who recorded his 500th career hit on Friday. “He was working quick. He was dominating the zone. He was hitting all of his spots. When a pitcher like that is on, it’s so tough to get an offense going. It was special to watch.”

Lugo entered the game allowing five hits or fewer and three earned runs or fewer in all but one start this season, despite having just one win. He entered with the eighth lowest run support of any starter in baseball, and that didn’t change much on Friday. Both of the Royals’ runs came off sacrifice flies, but Lugo will take it -- Kansas City had scored just two total runs in the past three games Lugo was on the mound.

Lugo was in a good spot pitch-count wise to pitch the ninth, but Quatraro turned to Lucas Erceg, who set down the Astros 1-2-3 for the save.

After a 2-8 road trip that included a six-game skid, the Royals (13-14) have now won five straight games and can return to .500 for the first time since April 13 on Saturday. The club has only scored more than four runs twice since April 5 -- both instances coming on Thursday in the doubleheader sweep of Colorado -- but Lugo’s Friday outing made sure two was enough.

“As you get deeper in the game, you have to be aware of the scoreboard,” Lugo said. “You have to know how you’re going to attack the hitters and how aggressive you’re going to be in the zone. Ideally you’d like more [runs], but two is enough tonight so we got the ‘W.’”