Walks and miscues cause 'bad-luck night' for Lugo, Royals

KANSAS CITY -- Seth Lugo had a quality start to his name when he took the mound for the seventh inning Saturday night, but by the end of the inning, the Cubs had flipped a one-run deficit into a three-run lead.

Patrick Wisdom’s pinch-hit grand slam invigorated a Cubs-heavy crowd at Kauffman Stadium and seemed to take all the momentum out of the Royals’ offense in their 9-4 loss Saturday night, setting up a rubber match for the series finale on Sunday.

Here are three moments that stood out from the loss:

Swanson’s walk
Lugo was only at 73 pitches when he took the mound for the seventh inning, set to face the bottom half of the Cubs’ order. After Seiya Suzuki crushed a two-run home run in the first inning -- the first extra-base hit allowed off his sweeper all season -- Lugo had settled down and relied on early contact to get him deep into the game.

The Cubs put two on with nobody out in the seventh for Dansby Swanson, who walked on six pitches. Balls three and four looked like strikes, and Lugo was clearly frustrated with both calls.

“The idea is not giving any free passes and fill up the zone,” Lugo said. “I did my best doing that. Didn’t get some calls. It’s just one of [those] things. Bad-luck night.”

Lugo said the walk changed “the whole game.”

“With two guys on and nobody out, you can’t issue a free pass there,” Lugo said. “I’m conscious of that. Making pitches, I feel like that’s all I can do.”

Pinch-hit grand slam
Lugo got a shallow flyout for the first out of the inning, but it was time for manager Matt Quatraro to bring in lefty Sam Long with left-handed-hitting center fielder Pete Crow-Armstrong on deck. Despite not having another true center fielder on the bench, Cubs manager Craig Counsell went to the right-handed Patrick Wisdom with his offense searching for runs.

Wisdom had only logged 13 at-bats in July before Saturday and was slashing .202/.283/.394 this season. The Royals were still confident in Long, who was holding right-handed batters to a .186 average this season and has been one of Kansas City's better relievers, especially in the middle innings.

But Wisdom rewarded the move with a 430-foot grand slam, rocketing a middle-middle fastball out to left-center field. Three of those runs were charged to Lugo.

“The fastball was the pitch we wanted because he doesn’t hit them very well,” Long said of Wisdom’s .179 average against fastballs this year. “But with a 2-1 fastball, I was trying to go up and in and probably left it more over the plate. I’m kicking myself for falling behind.”

RBI Renfroe
Despite the Cubs’ seven runs, the Royals were still in striking distance until the later part of Saturday’s game, thanks in large part to one player: Hunter Renfroe. He drove in three of the Royals’ four runs with his solo homer in the second inning and two-run single in the sixth inning, and he added his third hit of the game in the ninth.

After starting the season 15-for-107 (.140) with three homers through his first 36 games as a Royal, Renfroe has batted .300 in his past 48 games since May 12, going 45-for-150 with seven homers and 25 RBIs.

He’s seeing the ball well, but Renfroe adjusted his swing mechanics in May to keep his bat more on his shoulder. That’s helped him simplify his movements at the plate.

“It just keeps my hands steady, where I don’t try to move them too much,” Renfroe said. “... It starts with the lower half. But hands on my shoulder, keep my hands as still as possible, in the launch position and ready to fire.”

The Royals left five on base Saturday, and two baserunning mistakes loomed large. No. 9 hitter Dairon Blanco was caught stealing in the third inning after a single and wild pitch put him on second base, while Bobby Witt Jr. was tagged out at second base during the Royals’ three-run sixth inning on his RBI double.

“They executed a good inside move on Blanco, we got caught,” Quatraro said. “That hurts, especially with where we were in the order, but you’re not going to perfect around the bases. … [On Witt’s], they made a nice play. They cut that ball off. Nobody was at third. So if that ball goes through to the plate, Bobby probably gets to third and then we’re saying what a good baserunning play that is. They executed really well.”