By MATT PIKE
A scary moment early in the game chased Kansas City Royals starter Seth Lugo off the mound, and the Royals bullpen let a back and forth game slip away from them, falling to the Texas Rangers 6-4 in extra innings at Kauffman Stadium.
Lugo exited the game in the fourth inning with a 1-0 lead after Brandon Nimmo's 106.6 MPH line drive hits Lugo in the forehead. Lugo laid on the ground for a few moments but did get up, appearing to be ok, and was checked up on by his good friend, and a former New York Mets teammate Nimmo, but left the game with trainers to be evaluted. Lugo did not appear to be shaken up or wobbly as he walked to the dugout with trainers, but had a visible knot on his forehead.
Kansas City took the 1-0 lead in the second inning after Jac Caglianone doubled, and later scored on an RBI bloop single from Isaac Collins. After Lugo left the game, he was relieved by Mason Black, who loaded the bases and tied the game with a bases loaded walk in the fourth inning to Evan Carter, driving in Nimmo. A single from Nicky Lopez in the same inning gave Texas a 2-1 lead, scoring Langford, but the inning ended as Caglianone threw Ezequiel Duran out at home plate.
The Royals tied the game up in the fifth inning as Caglianone stayed hot at the plate, hitting an RBI single to bring home Vinnie Pasquantino, after he walked with two outs. In the sixth, Kansas City took the lead once again, an RBI single from Lane Thomas driving in Collins after he led the inning off with a double, putting the Royals up 3-2 at the end of six innings.
In the top half of the seventh inning, Jake Burger, who came off the bench tied the score again with a solo home run. In the bottom half, the Royals took the lead back for a brief moment as Caglianone scored on an RBI triple from Nick Loftin, but again in the eighth inning, Burger tied the game for the Rangers with a sacrifice fly, scoring Carter, to tie the game at 4-4. The game would end up going to extra innings after John Schreiber and Jakob Junis pitched scoreless ninth innings.
Díaz's one-out double off Alex Lange in the 10th scored the automatic runner Duran from second base to give Texas a 5-4 lead. Later in the inning, Josh Jung drew a bases-loaded walk that forced in Díaz for another run. The Royals had a chance in the bottom of the 10th, loading the bases against Jacob Latz, but Tyler Tolbert grounded into a game ending double play to help Latz escape the big jam for his 10th save.
Lange fell to 0-3 in relief, pitching one inning and giving up two runs, one earned, on two hits with two walks and one strikeout. At the plate, Caglianone was 4-for-5 with a double and an RBI with a run scored. Collins was 2-for-5 with a double and an RBI with a run scored, while Bobby Witt Jr was 2-for-5 with a stolen base.
Kansas City and Texas wrap up their series tomorrow in the rubber match. Michael Wacha (4-4, 3.44. ERA, 67K's) takes the mound for the Royals against Kumar Rocker (2-5, 3.54 ERA, 49K's) for the Rangers in the finale. First pitch will be joined at 1:10pm on KFEQ (680AM/95.3FM).
You can follow Matt on X @KfeqMatt.