Royals shut out White Sox, spoil Nick Nastrini's debut

[April 16, 2024]  Seth Lugo threw seven shutout innings and Vinnie Pasquantino homered and doubled to lead the visiting Kansas City Royals to a 2-0 victory over the Chicago White Sox on Monday night.
 
Lugo (3-0) scattered four singles, walked one and struck out four while lowering his ERA to 1.05. He threw 99 pitches, 64 for strikes. James McArthur, who hit Gavin Sheets in the foot with two outs in the bottom of the ninth, bounced back to strike out pinch hitter Eloy Jimenez to end the game and garner his third save in four tries. 

Apr 15, 2024; Chicago, Illinois, USA; Chicago White Sox starting pitcher Nick Nastrini pitches during the first inning against the Kansas City Royals at Guaranteed Rate Field. Mandatory Credit: Patrick Gorski-USA TODAY Sports

Kyle Isbel added an RBI single for Kansas City, which improved to 5-0 against the White Sox this season. The loss was the 14th in 16 games for Chicago, the worst start in the franchise's 124-year history.

Andrew Benintendi had two hits while Nick Nastrini (0-1) took the loss in his major league debut.

Nastrini, obtained at the trade deadline last July from the Dodgers in a deal that sent Lance Lynn and Joe Kelly to Los Angeles, started the game with 3 2/3 perfect innings and wound up allowing two runs on three hits over five innings. He walked two and struck out five, but the White Sox were shut out for the sixth time in 16 games.

Kansas City took a 1-0 lead in the fourth inning when Pasquantino drove a 2-1 fastball 421 feet into the right field bleachers, breaking up Nastrini's perfect game. It was the third home run of the season for Pasquantino.

The Royals extended the lead to 2-0 in the fifth. Nick Loftin singled with one out, advanced to second on a walk to Adam Frazier and then scored on a ground single to left by Isbel with two outs. Maikel Garcia followed with a walk to load the bases, but Nastrini got Bobby Witt Jr. to fly out to the wall in center to narrowly end the threat.

--Field Level Media

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