By MATT PIKE
St. Joseph Post
Drew Waters bat stayed hot, Bobby Witt Jr had three hits, and the Kansas City Royals opened their series with the Houston Astros on Friday night with a 2-0 shutout win, moving their win streak to five games.
The Royals scored first in the bottom of the fifth inning after Waters doubled to lead off the inning. A sacrifice bunt from Freddy Fermin advanced Waters to third, before he came home to score on a sacrifice fly by Kyle Isbel.
In the sixth, Kansas City added the only other run they would need, back to back singles by Vinnie Pasquantino and Maikel Garcia opened the inning before they were advanced on another sacrifice bunt, this time by Michael Massey. Pasquantino scored on a sacrifice fly by Hunter Renfroe.
Seth Lugo looked brilliant on the mound, pitching eight shutout innings and striking out eight batters and giving up just three hits while walking one. Lucas Erceg recorded his first save, striking out one batter Witt Jr led the way hitting on the day, going 3-4 at the plate. With his three hits, he extended his new career best hit streak to 17 games.
The Royals and Astros continue their series tomorrow. Michael Wacha starts for Kansas City, still searching for his first win of the season, taking on Framber Valdez for Houston. First pitch is at 6:10pm, pregame coverage begins at 5:30 on KFEQ (680AM/95.3FM).
You can follow Matt on X @KfeqMatt and St. Joseph Post @StJosephPost.