Vinnie Pasquantino drove in five runs and the Royals’ lineup went 3-for-6 with runners in scoring position to defeat the Nationals 8-5 on Tuesday night.
Nationals pitcher Mitchell Parker walked Maikel Garcia to lead off the first, which is a cardinal sin, according to Denny Matthews. Garcia took off for second when Bobby Witt Jr. tapped a bouncer back to the mound, but rather than stop there, Garcia turned and took third on a nice heads-up play to take an extra base. It would pay off when Vinnie Pasquantino lofted a fly ball for a sacrifice fly to score Garcia for the game’s first run.
Garcia also made his presence known on defense in the third. Luis García Jr. lay down a bunt for a possible single, but Maikel barehanded the ball and fired the ball to first to get the out. In the bottom of the inning, he drew a two-out walk to extend the inning. Bobby Witt Jr. hit a grounder up the middle for an infield single, and Vinnie Pasquantino took them all home with a three-run blast that barely made it over the wall, his 21st of the year.
In the fifth, Luis García Jr. hooked a triple down the line in right to score Riley Adams and put the Nationals on the board. CJ Abrams tripled in the sixth, scoring on a pop-up that dropped between Bobby and centerfielder Tyler Tolbert to make it 4-2 Royals. Wacha would exit having allowed two runs – one earned – in 5.2 innings with three strikeouts and two walks, lowering his ERA to 3.28.
Bobby led off the bottom of the sixth with a walk, and Mitchell Parker would get pulled one batter later. Randall Grichuk doubled Bobby home, and Jonathan India launched a two-run home run off reliever Konnor Pilkington to make it 7-2 Royals.
In the seventh, Robert Hassell III beat out an infield single on a grounder to Vinnie Pasquantino’s right, where Sam Long failed to reach first base in time. James Wood doubled home a run, and CJ Abrams followed with an RBI single to cut the lead to 7-4. But Vinnie Pasquantino provided some extra breathing room with a double to drive home a run in the bottom of the inning, his fifth RBI of the night. Taylor Clarke gave up a run in the eighth to make it 8-5.
Lucas Erceg came in to slam the door shut with a 1-2-3 ninth to earn his second save of the year. Royals hitters drew six walks and left just four hitters on base all night. The Royals take the series and improve to 60-60 and can go over .500 with a win tomorrow afternoon when Seth Lugo takes on Jake Irvin at 1:10 CT.
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