KANSAS CITY – With Sunday’s 8-6 win over the Mariners at Kauffman Stadium, the Royals put together back-to-back wins on the strength of their rotation and core hitters coming through in clutch situations.
If that sounds familiar, that’s because it should. That’s the way this Royals team has won the past few years and was built to again this year. It has just so rarely come together in 2026.
But it did on Sunday, and perhaps it provides some momentum for the Royals to build upon with the Yankees coming to town next. Following Stephen Kolek’s shutout on Saturday, starter Seth Lugo tossed a quality start Sunday with three earned runs in 6 1/3 innings.
It was the Royals’ first series win since May 8-10 vs. Detroit, snapping a three-series losing streak, and they’ve now won back-to-back games for the first time since that series against the Tigers (May 8-9). It was also their first rubber match win of the year, as they entered Sunday 0-4 in rubber games this season – the only team in the Majors without a win in that situation.
The fifth inning looked like it was headed the way the Royals have seen so many times before this season, and the reason for all the frustration surrounding the offense. Michael Massey walked to lead off the inning, and Kyle Isbel bunted for a base hit, with the two advancing to third and second base because of Bryan Woo’s throwing error as he fielded the bunt. That turned over the Royals’ lineup with no outs, but Maikel Garcia grounded out, and Bobby Witt Jr. hit a shallow flyout to center.
This is where the Royals flipped the script. Woo threw Vinnie Pasquantino two balls, leading the Mariners to put him on first base – opting to face Salvador Perez with the bases loaded and two outs. Entering that at-bat, Perez had been slashing .143/.227/.214 with runners in scoring position this year.
Perez grounded a 108.9 mph two-run single through the left side of the infield, flipping the one-run deficit into a one-run lead. Carter Jensen followed with a double off the left-field wall to score two more runs and save the Royals from another squandered opportunity.
Outside of a first-inning homer from Julio Rodríguez, Lugo cruised through the early part of his outing and was at 51 pitches through five innings. He ran into a longer sixth and trouble in the seventh; a double and back-to-back singles from the bottom of the Mariners’ lineup ended his day with one out in the seventh. Daniel Lynch IV allowed one inherited runner to score, but Lugo’s outing marked the Royals’ eighth quality start in their last nine games.
With the offense providing run support – and adding onto the lead in the sixth, seventh and eighth innings – Sunday’s game was a familiar, and welcome, sight to see.