In first game without injured Bobby Witt Jr., Royals get it done vs. Cardinals

Blair Kerkhoff, The Kansas City Star on Jun 19, 2026

Published in Baseball

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KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The Royals passed their first test without Bobby Witt Jr. in the lineup.

A four-run fourth-inning opened the door to a 6-5 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals at Kauffman Stadium, as the Royals took the second game of the series and won their third straight game.

Friday marked the first game without Witt, the star shortstop, who suffered a Grade 1 MCL sprain in Thursday’s series-opening victory. Royals manager Matt Quatraro said the club will know more about a return timetable when the teams conclude the series on Sunday.

The game marked a triumphant return for starting pitcher Seth Lugo, who nine days earlier took a comebacker off his forehead against the Texas Rangers, which landed him on the 7-day injured list.

Lugo missed a start, and he came back strong Friday, surrendering one earned run in six innings.

He got enough support. Although they weren’t as prolific as they were in the 14-6 victory on Thursday, a game in which they set a club record with five doubles in an inning and logged 11 extra-base hits, the Royals got the job done, especially in the fourth inning.

The Royals strung together four hits and a walk for a four-run frame. The line got started with Lane Thomas’ double and kept moving with RBI singles by Jac Caglianone single and Michael Massey.

Isaac Collins got the big hit, a two-run double that one-hopped the left-field wall, the first of two doubles for Collins.

The Royals and Caglianone weren’t finished. In the fifth, Caglianone put a charge into a Michael McGreevey four-seam fastball on the outside corner, a laser-beam shot into the Cardinals’ bullpen in left field.

It marked the second straight night of an opposite-field home run for Caglianone, who now has 10 homers to share the team lead on the season with Witt and Salvador Perez.

Tyler Tolbert, starting in place of Witt at shortstop, got in on the fun. With one out in the sixth and Nick Loftin at third, Tolbert twice failed to get down safety squeeze bunts. No problem. He blasted a George Soriano pitch to the warning track in center for a sacrifice fly and his first RBI this season.

Plus Tolbert was part of one of the Royals’ top defensive plays of the year: a smash up the middle by Ivan Herrera, gloved by a diving Massey up the middle. Massey glove-flipped the ball to Tolbert, who pirouetted and fired to a stretched Caglianone for the out.

Tolbert also made a slick play to end the game. The Cardinals had rallied for three runs in the ninth, and Jose Fermin hit a hard grounder to Tolbert’s left. He snared it back-handed and got a force out at second base.

The Royals have a rare Saturday off day before completing the three-game series against the St. Louis Cardinals on Sunday. First pitch is 1:10 p.m. Why Saturday off? A FIFA World Cup game between Ecuador and Curaçao will be played at neighboring Arrowhead Stadium on Saturday at 7 p.m.

Sunday, Stephen Kolek (4-1, 2.68 ERA) is scheduled to start for the Royals against the Cardinals’ Dustin May (5-6, 3.75).