The Royals passed their first test without Bobby Witt Jr. in the lineup.
A four-run fourth-inning opened the door to a 6-5 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals at Kauffman Stadium, as the Royals took the second game of the series — and third straight win.
Friday marked their first game without Witt, the star shortstop who suffered a Grade 1 MCL sprain in Thursday’s series opener. KC manager Matt Quatraro said the Royals will know more about a return timetable for Witt when the clubs conclude their series on Sunday (no game Saturday because of the World Cup match next door — more about that below).
Friday night’s game marked a triumphant return for starting pitcher Seth Lugo, who nine days earlier took a comebacker off his forehead against the Texas Rangers. That scary incident landed him on the seven-day injured list.
Lugo missed a start, but he came back strong Friday, surrendering just one earned run in six innings.
He got enough support. Although they weren’t as prolific as they were in their 14-6 victory on Thursday — a game in which they set a club record with five doubles in an inning and logged 11 extra-base hits — the Royals got the job done, especially in the fourth inning.
They strung together four hits and a walk for a four-run frame. The line got started with Lane Thomas’ double and kept moving with RBI singles by Jac Caglianone and Michael Massey.
Isaac Collins got the big hit, a two-run double that one-hopped the left-field wall. It was the first of two doubles for Collins.
The Royals and Caglianone weren’t finished. In the fifth, Caglianone put a charge into a Michael McGreevey four-seam fastball on the outside corner, sending a laser-beam shot into the Cardinals’ bullpen in left field.
The blast made it back-to-back nights of opposite-field home runs for Caglianone, who now has 10 homers and shares the team lead with Witt and Salvador Perez.
Tyler Tolbert, starting in place of Witt at shortstop, got in on the fun, too. With one out in the sixth and Nick Loftin at third, Tolbert twice failed to get down safety-squeeze bunts. No problem. He blasted a George Soriano pitch to the warning track in center for a sacrifice fly and his first RBI this season.
Plus, Tolbert was part of one of Kansas City’s top defensive plays of the year. It started with a smash up the middle by Ivan Herrera — gloved by a diving Massey. The Royals second baseman glove-flipped the ball to Tolbert, who pirouetted and fired to an outstretched Caglianone for the out at first.
Tolbert also made a slick play to end the game. The Cardinals had rallied for three runs in the ninth, and Jose Fermin hit a hard grounder to Tolbert’s left. Tolbert snared it back-handed and got the force at second for out No. 3.
Next: The Royals have a rare Saturday off-day before completing their three-game I-70 series against the Cardinals on Sunday. First pitch is 1:10 p.m. Why Saturday off? A FIFA World Cup game between Ecuador and Curaçao will be played at neighboring Kansas City (Arrowhead) Stadium on Saturday at 7 p.m. As for Sunday, right-hander Stephen Kolek (4-1, 2.68 ERA) is scheduled to start for the Royals against Cardinals right-hander Dustin May (5-6, 3.75).
This story was originally published June 19, 2026 at 10:03 PM.
‘ The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties ’
‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.kansascity.com ’
