Kansas City

Royals

Garcia returns to Kansas City’s lineup following a three-game absence due to elbow soreness. The 26-year-old third baseman was able to come off the bench during Sunday’s series finale, so it’s not a massive surprise to see him back at the hot corner in this one.

Avila is back up to replace Eli Morgan in the bullpen, with Morgan optioned to Triple-A in a corresponding move. The 24-year-old scuffled to a 9.00 ERA in his brief stint with Kansas City, but he’ll get another chance to help the Royals’ relief corps.

Morgan has pitched solidly in 2026 with a 2.61 ERA, but the Royals will go with a fresh arm and bring up Luinder Avila to take his place in the bullpen.

Gose, 35, will give the Royals some bullpen depth in the minors. The 35-year-old last pitched in the majors in 2024 when he made three appearances for the Guardians.

Morgan heads back to the minors ahead of Tuesday’s series opener against the Athletics after posting a solid 2.61 ERA and 9/6 K/BB ratio across 10 1/3 innings over seven appearances. The 29-year-old righty figures to be back at some point in a couple weeks.

Working with a 9-8 lead, Lucchesi retired the first two batters in the bottom of the 10th, but he then walked Maikel Garcia and gave up the homer, which was the first for Thomas this season. Thomas is batting .226/.359/.302 in 64 plate appearances. As per usual, he’s been far more successful against lefties than righties. He should continue to be platooned accordingly.

Lugo gave up six runs in the first two innings, but once he survived that, the Royals never had reason to pull him until the seventh. Still, it’s kind of stunning to see a pitcher get the chance to give up 14 hits. It hadn’t happened since Luis Cessa and Braxton Garrett did so in 2023. Lugo hadn’t allowed more than five hits in any of his previous five starts this season. His ERA climbed from 1.15 to 2.63, so he’ll look to bounce back next weekend in Seattle.

Erceg struck out two before the Angels won the game in the bottom of the 10th. It’s Erceg’s third straight nice outing after his ERA peaked at 6.48 on Monday. He still looks like the Royals’ closer at the moment.

Both hits came off Reid Detmers. The homer, hit 108.4 mph to center, came in the rain in the sixth before the game was delayed in the seventh. Witt entered today with 21 singles and nine doubles on the year. Even with this bit of a slow start, he’s batting .294.

Garcia was out of the lineup for a third straight game because of a sore elbow, but the Royals let him play a couple innings of third base today. He should be safe to start in fantasy leagues this week.