Seth Lugo didn’t exactly arrive at Fenway Park carrying road-day confidence. Entering Friday, the Royals right-hander had a 6.19 ERA in 14 starts away from Kauffman Stadium, and his previous road outing had gone sideways with nine earned runs against the Cleveland Guardians.
None of that mattered much once the game started.
Lugo settled in and gave Kansas City exactly what it needed in a 3-2 win over the Red Sox, working five innings and allowing two runs while the Royals opened the series with a victory in Boston. He was aggressive early, leaning on his four-seam fastball to get ahead in counts and mixing in his off-speed pitches to keep hitters from locking in.
That approach showed up right away. Lugo threw his four-seamer 38% of the time in his first trip through the order and picked up 6-of-9 first-pitch strikes, according to Baseball Savant.
Boston had a hard time mounting anything until the fifth inning, when Mickey Gasper launched a solo homer and Wilyer Abreu added an RBI double. With Abreu standing at second as the tying run, Royals pitching coach Brian Sweeney came out for a mound visit.
The quick reset worked. Lugo came back and struck out Trevor Story and Nick Sogard to end the inning, using his sinker to finish both at-bats. Story took a 90.9 mph sinker for a called strike at the top of the zone, and Sogard swung through a sinker on the outer half to leave the Red Sox stranded.
Kansas City had already given Lugo some breathing room by then. Rookie Carter Jensen, making his Fenway Park debut, doubled twice in back-to-back at-bats against Sonny Gray and scored twice. Salvador Perez drove in the Royals’ first run with an RBI single in the opening inning, then Jensen and Vinnie Pasquantino added RBIs in the third to build the lead Lugo protected.
The Royals’ bullpen handled the rest. Nolan Hoffman, Connor Thomas and Nate Pearson covered four scoreless innings, with all three still battling for a 2027 roster spot. Pearson worked around Story’s one-out double in the eighth, getting Sogard out before striking out Caleb Durbin to keep Kansas City in front.
Steven Cruz then took over in the ninth and finished the job, retiring the bottom of Boston’s order to lock down the save.
Lugo’s seven strikeouts gave him his seventh win of the season, while Boston’s loss was its third straight after a five-game winning streak. The Red Sox fell to 80-68, and the Royals moved to 66-82.
Royals right-hander Randy Dobnak, 3-3 with a 2.54 ERA, is set to start Saturday afternoon against Red Sox left-hander Ranger Suarez, who is 6-4 with a 3.44 ERA. First pitch is scheduled for 3:10 p.m. Central Time at Fenway Park.
In Other News...
Royals Finally Got An Encouraging Jac Caglianone Injury Sign
Jac Caglianone took a meaningful step forward this week by getting back on the field for batting practice, his first such session since suffering a Grade 1 flexor strain in his left elbow. For a Royals team tracking every update on his recovery, that alone counts as encouraging news, especially after he had been limited to the margins while working his way back from the injury.
Matt Quatraro struck a hopeful tone about where Caglianone stands, though he stopped short of saying whether the young hitter would be available to pinch-hit in the next game. Caglianone still has not resumed throwing with game intensity, but he did make several throws during batting practice, another sign that the rehab process is moving in the right direction as Kansas City waits for the next checkpoint. [Read more 🡒]
Nate Pearson Is Giving The Royals A Bullpen Decision To Make
Nate Pearson arrived in Kansas City in late July with the kind of arm that can change the conversation in a bullpen, and he has spent the weeks since backing that up. In 21 innings for the Royals, the right-hander has allowed just one earned run and piled up 20 strikeouts, giving the club a late-season look at a power pitcher who has fit in quickly after coming over from Houston.
Pearsons immediate impact has also created an offseason decision the Royals will have to sort through. Kansas City controls him through the 2027 season, which gives the front office some flexibility, but it also raises the question of whether his recent work has made him a legitimate piece for next years bullpen rather than just a short-term arm added for depth. [Read more 🡒]
Why Matthew Lugo Could Be A Sneaky Royals Fit
Matthew Lugos path to Kansas City has been a winding one, which is part of what makes him an intriguing add for the Royals. A second-round pick by Boston in 2019, he spent parts of five seasons in the Red Sox organization before finally reaching the majors with the Angels in 2025, giving him a long stretch of minor league seasoning before landing with a new club.
Now in Royals camp after being claimed off waivers in June 2027, Lugo is trying to carve out a role and turn that background into something useful at the next level. He has talked about his development, the lessons from his years in Bostons system and the added perspective of representing Team Puerto Rico in the World Baseball Classic, all of which gives Kansas City a player with a broader baseball education than the typical waiver claim. [Read more 🡒]