Vinnie Pasquantino sets offensive tone in 9-6 win over the Braves

The Pasquatach falls a triple shy of the cycle.

The Royals had an offensive explosion, paced by a three-hit night for Vinnie Pasquantino in a 9-6 win over the Braves to even the series Tuesday night.

Erick Fedde, making his Braves debut, showed why the Cardinals made him so expendable. Vinnie Pasquantino got the scoring going for the Royals in the first inning with a monster home run, his 18th of the year.

In the second, Jonathan India doubled home two more runs, and Bobby Witt Jr. singled him home to make it 4-0 Royals.

That seemed like some unusually good run support for Seth Lugo, who signed a multi-year contract extension with the team this week. He was fairly sharp early on, tossing five shutout innings before things fell apart in the sixth, all with two outs. Austin Riley hit a long 434-foot home run to center to put the Braves on the board. Michael Harris II singled up the middle to set up a Marcell Ozuna two-run home run to pull the Braves within a run. Drake Baldwin doubled, before Lugo walked the next two hitters to load the bases and end his evening. Fortunately, Hunter Harvey wriggled out of the jam to preserve the lead. Lugo exited after 5 ²⁄₃ innings with three runs on seven hits and four walks, with five strikeouts.

The Braves bullpen has an 8.12 ERA since the All-Star break, and that was evident this evening. In the sixth, Salvador Perez led off with a single, but was out on a fielder’s choice when Adam Frazier’s sacrifice bunt didn’t work. Freddie Fermin and Randal Grichuk walked to load the bases, setting up a huge three-run double by Kyle Isbel.

Bobby Witt Jr. singled home another run, before Vinnie Pasquantino doubled home a run to make it 9-3 Royals.

The Royals bullpen made things interesting late in the game. Lucas Erceg gave up a run in the seventh and Angel Zerpa got into trouble in the eighth. The Braves would plate two more runs in the eighth to make it 9-6 before John Schreiber escaped out of the jam.

Carlos Estévez slammed the door shut in the ninth for his 28th save of the year. Lugo improves to 8-5 on the year and Pasquantino fell a triple shy of the cycle. The Royals improve to 53-55 and can take the series tomorrow afternoon. Kansas City native Joey Wentz will pitch for the Braves, while the Royals have not yet announced a starter.