Kansas City Royals’ Seth Lugo Logs Second Straight Subpar Start on Wednesday

The Kansas City Royals lost 6-5 to the Chicago White Sox on Wednesday, and it was partly because of starting pitcher Seth Lugo. The 2024 All-Star earned the loss after allowing five runs on eight hits over five innings, tallying four strikeouts against two walks.

White Sox center fielder Tristan Peters opened the scoring with an RBI double in the second inning before scoring on a fielding error by Royals first baseman Vinnie Pasquantino. Chicago second baseman Chase Meidroth then hit a sacrifice fly in the third before right fielder Jarred Kelenic hit a two-run double in the fifth.

This was Lugo's second consecutive uneven start, as he allowed four runs over four innings in Thursday's 8-5 loss to the Cleveland Guardians. The 6-foot-4, 225-pounder has five quality starts this year, but he's been performing below his standard recently. He did allow just two runs over six innings in a 3-2 win over the Seattle Mariners on May 2, but coughed up seven runs over 6.1 innings in an 11-9 victory over the Los Angeles Angels on April 26.

Kansas City can't afford to have veterans like Lugo underperform, as it is now 19-24 and tied for last place in the NL Central with the and . On the bright side, it's only four games behind the Guardians for first.