Royals vie to ride power surge in rematch vs. Mariners

When Jac Caglianone homered in the sixth inning Friday night in Seattle, nobody was more excited than Kansas City Royals teammate Vinnie Pasquantino.

Pasquantino pinched his fingers together in a traditional Italian hand gesture then greeted Caglianone at the top step of the dugout with a kiss on both cheeks.

The only thing missing was the espresso machine from the Team Italy dugout at the World Baseball Classic.

Pasquantino and Caglianone, who helped Italy place a surprising fourth in the tournament, both went deep in the sixth inning in the Royals’ 7-6 victory in the opener of a three-game series that continues Saturday in Seattle.

“From Day 1 he took me under his wing in spring training,” Caglianone said earlier this season. “He made sure once I got up to K.C. that my locker was next to his.”

Pasquantino had started each of the previous two games on the bench with lower back tightness. He showed no ill effects Friday, however, as he hammered a 95-mph fastball from Mariners right-hander Bryan Woo 404 feet off the facade of the second deck in right field.

Pasquantino, who admitted to using a heating pad in the dugout, also had an RBI single in a four-run first inning.

“He feels better,” Royals manager Matt Quatraro said before the game. “It’s a good thing for him to keep moving.”

Pinch-hitter Lane Thomas’ run-scoring single with one out in the eighth inning broke a tie for the Royals, who overcame a pair of two-run homers by Seattle’s Julio Rodriguez to win for just the fourth time in 16 road games this season.

Connor Joe and Randy Arozarena also homered for the Mariners, who had won six of their previous seven games.

“Tough, tough loss tonight,” said Mariners manager Dan Wilson, whose team rallied from a four-run deficit. “The one thing that stands out to me is how our guys really bounced back in this ballgame.”

The Mariners were without reliever Matt Brash, who was placed on the 15-day injured list earlier in the day with inflammation in his right lat.

That proved costly in the decisive eighth, as instead of bringing in Brash to face Thomas they had to leave in lefty Jose A. Ferrer, who allowed the go-ahead hit.

Saturday’s game is set to feature a pair of right-handers in the Royals’ Seth Lugo (1-1, 2.63 ERA) against the Mariners’ Emerson Hancock (2-1, 2.86).

Lugo is coming off his worst start of the season, in which he allowed seven runs on 14 hits in 6 1/3 innings Sunday to the visiting Los Angeles Angels. He didn’t get a decision as the Royals won 11-9 in 10 innings. Lugo is 1-1 with a 6.00 ERA in three career appearances against Seattle, with two starts.

Hancock took a no-decision Sunday at St. Louis in a game the Mariners won 3-2. He gave up two runs on seven hits over six innings. Hancock is 0-1, 7.50 in three career outings versus Kansas City, including two starts.

–Field Level Media