Vinnie Pasquantino has career night in KC Royals win. Bobby Witt Jr. made history, too

The Kansas City Royals brought their lumber to Comerica Park on Thursday night. The Royals blasted three home runs in a 7-1 victory over the Detroit Tigers.

Royals first baseman Vinnie Pasquantino had a career night at the yard. He belted two home runs and recorded four RBIs. It was his first career multi-homer game.

“It’s something I’ve thought about before,” Pasquantino said. “It’s nothing that’s really kept me up at night, but it’s definitely something that is cool to get.”

In the eighth inning, Pasquantino teamed with Royals star Bobby Witt Jr. to hit back-to-back home runs.

Witt hit his 20th home run over the left-field wall. Pasquantino hit a solo blast to bookend the Royals’ scoring output. In the process, Witt made a bit of history of his own.

He became the first player to have at least 20 homers and 20 steals in each of his first three MLB seasons, per MLB.com researcher Sarah Langs.

“We’re winning one game four times in a row,” Witt said. “We’ve just got to keep doing it and taking it day by day and just trust our abilities.”

The Royals improved to 61-49. The run support was plenty for Royals starter Seth Lugo as he shut down the Tigers offense.

Lugo allowed one earned run across eight innings. He surrendered four hits en route to his 13th win of the season.

“I thought it was pretty good,” Lugo said. “You know, I think in the first inning I was trying too hard to hit the corners and ended up walking a guy. ... I settled down after that and stayed in the zone. So that was the game plan to attack hitters.”

The Tigers produced their lone run in the fourth inning. Second baseman Colt Keith laced a leadoff single and scored on a sacrifice fly.

Lugo lobbied to pitch the ninth inning. However, Royals manager Matt Quatraro turned to reliever Will Smith to finish out the final frame.

“I wanted it, but you know, smart play there,” Lugo said.

Smith worked a scoreless inning, striking out two batters and issuing a walk. Detroit fell to 52-58 as the Royals have won five of the seven head-to-head matchups this season.

“We just want to score runs and we just want to win some games,” Pasquantino said. “We want to go home happy every night. It can’t happen all the time, but we did it tonight and we are happy about it.”

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Here are more notables from Thursday’s game:

Freddy Fermin extends hitting streak

The Royals continue to get production from their catching unit. Royals manager Matt Quatraro inserted both Salvador Perez and Freddy Fermin in the starting lineup once more against the Tigers.

Perez started at catcher while Fermin was the designated hitter. The strategy worked as Fermin produced two hits to extend his career-best hitting streak to nine games.

“Freddy’s at-bats have been tremendous, but that RBI late in the game there was a big spot for us to extend it and give that breathing room to Seth,” Quatraro said.

In the seventh inning, Fermin collected an RBI single as second baseman Michael Massey scored. It was a crucial insurance run as the Royals took a 4-1 lead.

In his last four games, Fermin is hitting .500 (7-for-14) with a home run and four RBIs.

Bobby Witt Jr. named Royals Heart and Hustle recipient

Witt received another high honor on Thursday. He earned his third consecutive nomination as the Royals’ Heart and Hustle recipient.

The award honors active players who demonstrate a passion for the game of baseball and embody the value, spirit and traditions of the game.

Former MLB players vote on the team nominees. From there, the Major League Baseball Players Association (MLBPA) forms a committee and selects the recipients for each club.

“Everybody sees what he does on the field,” Quatraro said. “To me, he’s just as special, if not more so, behind the scenes because of his humility.”

Witt will join 29 other team nominees in the final voting. Last season, Texas Rangers star Marcus Semien won the 2023 Heart and Hustle Award.

In Thursday’s game, Witt finished 2-for-4 with a double, home run and two RBIs.

What’s next on the KC Royals schedule?

The Royals are back in action on Friday night. Left-hander Cole Ragans will face the Detroit Tigers at Comerica Park.

Ragans owns a 3.37 ERA in 22 starts this season. He has set a career high with 128 ⅓ innings pitched and 153 strikeouts in his second campaign with the Royals.

The Tigers will start fellow southpaw Tarik Skubal. The Tigers ace is 12-3 with a 2.35 ERA this season and is in American League Cy Young consideration.

Friday’s game will be streamed on Apple TV+ and broadcast on 610 Sports Radio.