Seth Lugo works quality starts vs. Padres

Intending to play spoiler against the White Sox, Lugo did not do his part. His lineup spotted him a four run lead after the first inning, yet he could not hold it. Everything came crashing down in the third inning when Lugo let up five hits and hit a batter. That turned the Royals’ four run lead into a tie game. When he let up two more hits in the fourth, he was pulled. Struggling to miss bats all season, Lugo forced just three whiffs in this game and closed a disappointing season with a 5.17 ERA.

Lugo punched out five opposing hitters on the night while issuing one base on balls. All of the damage done against him came via the long ball, with Jeremy Peña, Daulton Varsho, LaMonte Wade Jr. and Yordan Alvarez each tagging him for solo home runs in the ballgame. The 36-year-old hurler got 11 swings and misses on 76 pitches on the night, posting a CSW of 30 percent. He’ll carry a disappointing 5.06 ERA, 1.46 WHIP and a 131/54 K/BB ratio (169 innings) into his final start of the season on Wednesday against the White Sox.

Lugo got off to a solid start in this one, striking out five batters over his first 4 1/3 innings of work before allowing a solo homer to Mickey Gasper to cut the Royals’ lead to 3-1. Lugo would walk Adley Rutschman in the following at-bat, and then gave up an RBI double to Wilyer Abreu, who drove in Rutschman to give the Red Sox their second run of the innings. Lugo would strike out the next two batters he faced to end the inning and did not return for the start of the sixth inning. The veteran righty has allowed five earned runs in his last 10 innings of work and is set to make his next start on Thursday against the Astros.

Lugo gave up eight hits, walked two and struck out one. It was a somewhat passable start for the 36-year-old right-hander, though he allowed at least eight hits for the third time in his last four starts. At least he didn’t allow nine runs like he did against the Guardians in his previous start. Lugo has a 5.04 ERA. He’s lined up to face the Red Sox on the road next weekend.

Lugo’s ERA climbed over 5.00 with the disastrous outing, which included home runs from José Ramírez and Nathaniel Lowe. The veteran righty had a career-best season two years ago, his first with the Royals, throwing 206 2/3 innings with a 3.00 ERA. He hasn’t replicated that since. He’ll look to bounce back with a home start against the Blue Jays next time out.

Lugo gave up six hits, walked one and struck out five. He improved to 6-7 with the win. Lugo had a 7.48 ERA in four starts in August entering play Tuesday, but responded with an excellent outing against the Blue Jays. He has a 4.61 ERA. Lugo is lined up to face the Guardians at home on Sunday.

After letting up two runs in the first inning before recording an out, Lugo appeared to settle in nicely afterwards. Following three straight hits to start the game, he retired 12 of the next 13 hitters he faced and he picked-off the only one who reached. Then, the floodgates opened back up in the fifth when four straight singles turned into three more runs. Such is life for a pitcher like Lugo who doesn’t miss many bats anymore. On the season, he has a 4.71 ERA, 111 strikeouts, and 46 walks through 145 1/3 innings pitched. Next up, he’s scheduled for a two-start week against the Blue Jays and Guardians with both starts on the road.

Lugo struck out four hitters on the night and didn’t walk a batter. He cruised through the first two innings unscathed but ran into a buzzsaw in the third inning. The Angels loaded the bases with one out against him when Lugo struck out Mike Trout. Nolan Schanuel followed with a three-run double though and Zach Neto added an RBI single to push four runs across. The Halos added another run while chasing him in the fifth. Lugo got seven whiffs on 86 pitches on the night, posting a CSW of 29 percent. He’ll bring a disappointing 4.59 ERA and 1.38 WHIP into Wednesday’s matchup against the Athletics.

This is Lugo’s victory for the month of August, if form holds; he had one in March/April, one in May, one in June and one in July. Oddly enough, four of his five victories have come against NL teams. His only previously win in American League game came in May versus the Mariners. Given all this, it seems nearly impossible that he’ll beat the Angels next weekend. Though, maybe the fact that he’s facing the Angels will trump all of that.

Lugo really struggled to locate his stuff Sunday, as he issued five walks and threw just 52-of-99 pitches for strikes. The right-hander has been a significant disappointment in 2026, and this lackluster effort now has his ERA up to 4.41 to go with a 4-7 record. Assuming he’s not moved before the deadline — which is hard to envision right now — Lugo will be back on the bump against the Cubs over the weekend.