Offense fails to support Seth Lugo in Royals' 2-0 loss to White Sox

Jaylon Thompson, The Kansas City Star on Apr 9, 2026

Published in Baseball

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KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The Kansas City Royals’ offensive woes continued on Thursday night.

Despite getting a quality start from All-Star starting pitcher Seth Lugo, the Royals fell, 2-0, in a series-opening game against the Chicago White Sox at Kauffman Stadium.

Lugo allowed one two runs in 6 1/3 innings. He scattered four hits and kept his pitch count manageable. There were quick outs — sans the four walks he issued — and some great defensive plays.

Lugo just didn’t receive any run support. The Royals came up short in key scoring opportunities and it proved costly.

In the third inning, Bobby Witt Jr. reached with a one-out double. It was a good chance to take an early lead.

But Witt was stranded on the base paths. Vinnie Pasquantino struck out on three pitches and Salvador Perez popped out to end the inning.

A similar scenario occurred in the seventh. Maikel Garcia and Witt got aboard with two-out singles. They represented the tying runs as Pasquantino stepped to the plate.

Pasquantino faced White Sox reliever Grant Taylor. He saw two pitches before grounding out to second base to end the inning.

Entering Thursday’s game, the Royals’ Nos. 1-5 hitters were batting .164 with runners in scoring position (RISP) — ranking last in the majors.

In their last four games, the Royals are 2 for 27 with RISP. And the offense hasn’t strung together multiple hits. The Royals logged just three hits against Chicago left-hander Anthony Kay in 5 2/3 innings.

While the Royals struggled, the White Sox (5-8) took advantage of their own chances. Colston Montgomery hit a RBI double that rolled past Lane Thomas in right field. Munetaka Murakami came around to score as Chicago took a 1-0 lead.

Luisangel Acuña added a sacrifice fly in the seventh. And those runs stood up as the Royals (5-8) dropped their third consecutive game.

Witt turns in a defensive highlight

Witt made a terrific play to rob Murakami in the sixth inning.

He snared a line drive — one that registered a 101.6 mph exit velocity off the bat — up the middle. The baseball nearly skipped away from his glove, but Witt corralled it and started a 6-3 double play.

Witt stepped on second base and threw a strike to Pasquantino at first. The defensive play helped Lugo get out of a potential jam.

Last season, Witt won his second Gold Glove — in addition to a Platinum Glove — for his work as a shortstop. He has a career .975 fielding percentage in five seasons with the Royals.

What’s next?

Royals left-hander Kris Bubic (1-1, 4.09 ERA) will start Friday’s game against the White Sox at Kauffman Stadium. He will oppose right-hander Davis Martin (2-0, 2.45 ERA), with first pitch set for 6:40 p.m. Central Time.