Lugo looks like a star vs. Angels
Royal regains his All-Star form against a struggling team, which mounts a late rally but falls short again.
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Paul DeJong hit a two-run homer, Seth Lugo once again looked like the pitcher whose brilliant first half made him an All-Star, and the Kansas City Royals beat the Angels 5-3 on Monday night to extend their winning streak to five games.
Lugo (14-7), who had been just 2-3 with 5.23 earned-run average since the All-Star break, gave up four hits and three walks over seven innings while striking out eight. That tied him with Atlanta’s Chris Sale and Detroit’s Tarik Skubal for the big league lead in wins.
Salvador Perez added two hits and three RBIs for the Royals, who outscored opponents 37-7 during those five straight wins. Kansas City never trailed in any of those games against American League Central rival Minnesota, Cincinnati and the Angels.
“It’s something we all feel together,” Lugo said simply. “It’s a team sport and we’re all doing it together.”
Lugo gave up just two hits until the seventh, when Brandon Drury drew a walk and Mickey Moniak and Jo Adell followed with doubles to draw the Angels to 3-2. Lugo bounced back by getting Taylor Ward to pop out and end the inning.
Kansas City’s Kris Bubic gave up Zach Neto’s homer in the eighth before John Schreiber worked the ninth for his second save.
“We battled him, battled him, battled him,” Angels manager Ron Washington said of Lugo. “At the end, we got some runs on him, but we just couldn’t put him away. If you can stay with a good pitcher like that, usually toward the end, hopefully you get an opportunity. We started getting to him in the seventh, but by that time he’d already did his damage.”
Carson Fulmer (0-4) gave up three runs (two earned) and five hits with three walks over four innings for the Angels, who lost for the sixth time in seven games.
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Johnny Cueto will be called up to make his Angels debut Wednesday night. The 38-year-old has not pitched in the majors since last September.