Kansas City Royals starting pitcher Seth Lugo returned to his old stomping grounds Sunday. And he wasted little time making his presence known.
The right-hander pitched for the San Diego Padres in 2023. He was good at Petco Park during that time, posting a 3.57 ERA in 26 starts.
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Two years later, Lugo looks like a different pitcher. The All-Star ace was flat-out dominant across 6 1/3 innings Sunday — at one point, he retired 18 consecutive batters — and left with a two-run lead.
But the KC bullpen couldn’t protect that lead, and the Royals lost 3-2 on a walkoff single.
“He did a tremendous job and we had all our high-leverage guys ready to go,” Royals manager Matt Quatraro told local reporters. “It just didn’t work out.”
Kansas City Royals pitcher Seth Lugo delivers during a Sunday, June 22, 2025 game against the San Diego Padres at Petco Park in San Diego.
First, the good: Lugo showcased his extensive mix of pitches. The Padres were baffled at the plate, with Fernando Tatis Jr. and Jackson Merrill recording the hosts’ lone hits while Lugo was in the game.
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Lugo recorded seven strikeouts against the Padres. He effectively navigated their hard-hitting trio of Manny Machado, Luis Arraez and Gavin Sheets.
After giving up a leadoff hit to open the game, Lugo struck out Machado and Arraez back to back. That sequence was significant, as Arraez had struck out just six times all season.
Kansas City Royals designated hitter Salvador Perez watches the flight of his two-run home run during the sixth inning of a Sunday, June 22, 2025 game against the Padres at Petco Park in San Diego.
The Royals (38-40) gave Lugo some run support in the sixth inning. Salvador Perez hitting his ninth home run of the year, off Padres starter Randy Vasquez. This continued KC’s power upswing, as the Royals homered in five of six games on their road trip that concluded Sunday.
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But Lugo, who has won consecutive starts just once this season (April 25 and May 1), took a no-decision after the Padres scored twice in the seventh against the Royals’ bullpen.
Reliever Angel Zerpa inherited one baserunner from Lugo and then walked two more to load the bases. Quatraro turned to “fireman” Lucas Erceg, who allowed a two-run single to Jose Iglesias.
“Really good ball game, up 2-0 and the pitching was really good,” Quatraro said. “You’ve got to give them credit: 0-2 hit from Iglesias and they took advantage of our walks in the seventh.”
Kansas City Royals shortstop Bobby Witt Jr. single during a Sunday, June 22, 2025 game against the San Diego Padres at Petco Park in San Diego.
Iglesias won it for San Diego in the ninth. He hit a ground ball to shortstop Bobby Witt Jr., who failed to get Arraez as he was barreling home from third base. Arraez slid in safely ahead of the throw.
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The Royals finished their road trip with four wins. That’s an encouraging bottom line after a winless homestand at Kauffman Stadium last week.
Here are more key moments from Sunday’s game:
Salvador Perez heats up
It took a while for Perez to find his power stroke. Earlier this season, he went over a month between home runs.
Things have changed for Perez since the calendar flipped to June. Perez has five home runs and 15 RBIs in 19 games this month. His batting average has also skyrocketed after he batted .202 in May.
The Royals rank 29th in the majors in total home runs, but they hit 10 on this road trip.
Royals squander scoring chances
The Royals let a few prime opportunities slip away in Sunday’s series finale.
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After Lugo produced a shutdown frame, the Royals had a chance to give him an early lead. Perez worked a leadoff walk against Vasquez and advanced to third on consecutive singles by Drew Waters and Freddy Fermin.
Kyle Isbel had the first chance to put the Royals on the board. However, he popped out — field officials invoked the infield-fly rule — and both runners stayed put. Then, Jonathan India struck out to end the inning.
Kansas City Royals outfielder Drew Waters, left, was called out at home plate while trying to score around the tag of Padres catcher Martín Maldonado during the ninth inning of a Sunday, June 22, 2025 Major League Baseball game at Petco Park in San Diego.
In the ninth, Waters was called out of the baseline after attempting to score from first base. He raced around the basepaths but couldn’t beat the incoming throw at the plate.
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“It looked like he stumbled a little bit coming around third,” Quatraro said. “He had nowhere to go. The throw took (Padres catcher Elias) Diaz right into the base path.”
The Royals finished Sunday’s game 1-for-4 with runners in scoring position and left six men on base.
KC opens a home series against the Tampa Bay Rays on Tuesday night. Left-hander Kris Bubic is the Royals’ scheduled starting pitcher for the game at Kauffman Stadium.