Matt Quatraro Explains Seth Lugo's Rough Outing

The Kansas City Royals looked ready to leave Cleveland with a series sweep, but Sunday turned into a different story at Progressive Field, where the Guardians scored in bunches from the first inning on and cruised to an 11-1 win.

Seth Lugo took the loss after allowing a season-high nine earned runs in three and two-thirds innings, the roughest start of his year, and Cleveland never let go from there.

Salvador Perez's first-inning single scored Jac Caglianone for the Royals' only run, and for a moment it looked like Kansas City might carry over the offense from wins on Friday and Saturday, but Cleveland answered fast in the bottom of the first as Chase DeLauter scored on a José Ramírez sacrifice fly and Nathaniel Lowe followed with a two-run homer that made it 1-3.

The Guardians kept adding on through the third and fourth while Lugo searched for outs, and Connor Thomas came on in relief with the score already 1-9 as the bullpen slowed the bleeding from there.

Manager Matt Quatraro pointed to command rather than pure stuff when he broke down the outing.

"I think his stuff was good, he just wasn't on the plate enough early," Quatraro said. "There were a lot of little moments that compounded to make it not a good outing."

Lugo credited Cleveland's hitters instead, saying they did a good job spoiling his pitches once they got to two strikes.

None of that changes the shape of the season, because Kansas City is now 62-76, eleven games behind the White Sox atop the American League Central and seven and a half games back of the final wild card spot as of Sunday's standings.

A stretch of good baseball over the past couple of weeks had made the race interesting again, and taking two of three in Cleveland kept that going, but an 11-1 loss is also a reminder of how far back this team started and how little room is left for results like Sunday's with the season entering its final month.

Bobby Witt Jr. remains the best reason to keep watching, and neither an 0-for-4 day nor a difficult season has slowed him down much.

He is hitting .285 with 16 home runs and 36 stolen bases, a combination that has made him one of the most exciting players in the league to watch, even on a team with a record this rough.

Salvador Perez has quietly put together a strong year too, with 17 home runs to go with his usual toughness behind the plate, and steady production like that will help a lineup counting on both players again this week.

The pitching staff has been tested all year, working arms like Tony Gonsolin back from injury and making tougher calls in the bullpen, and Sunday was a reminder of how quickly one bad afternoon can undo weeks of good work.

Kansas City is off Monday before opening a three-game series against the Miami Marlins on Tuesday at Kauffman Stadium, and a fresh start at home is the best thing for a team that just watched a promising road series end on a sour note.