By MATT PIKE
A big day for Vinnie Pasquantino at the plate helped the Kansas City Royals win a second game in a row over the Washington Nationals at Kauffman Stadium, earning an 8-5 win on Tuesday evening.
Pasquantino got the scoring started on the night in the first inning, with his first of five RBI’s in the game, driving in Maikel Garcia following his leadoff walk with a sacrifice fly. In the third inning, after another Garcia walk and a single by Bobby Witt Jr, it was Pasquantino again extending the Royals lead with a three run home run into the right field corner, putting Kansas City up 4-0 at the end of three innings.
Corner three! pic.twitter.com/fmukUFENx3
— Kansas City Royals (@Royals) August 13, 2025
The Nationals finally got on the scoreboard in the fifth inning on an RBI triple by Luis Garcia Jr, scoring Riley Adams. Washington added one more run in the sixth inning as Paul DeJong grounded into a forceout, with Josh Bell being thrown out at second and CJ Abrams scoring, cutting the Kansas City lead in half.
In the bottom half of the inning though, the Royals added three more runs the first coming with Randal Grichuk hitting an RBI double to bring home Witt Jr, after he led the inning off with a walk, and Grichuk scored in the next at bat as Jonathan India hit his seventh home run of the season, putting Kansas City back up 7-2.
Johnny liftoff! 🚀 pic.twitter.com/42p16MVrsw
— Kansas City Royals (@Royals) August 13, 2025
The Nationals scored two runs in the seventh inning, an RBI double by James Wood bringing home Robert Hassell III, and Woods scored in the next at bat on an RBI single by Abrams. The Royals added their final run in the bottom half of the inning, Pasquantino driving in his fifth run with an RBI double scoring Tyler Tolbert, before Washington scored their final run in the eighth inning on an RBI single by Daylen Lile driving in DeJong.
Michael Wacha earned the win on the mound, improving to 7-9 on the season, pitching 5 2/3 innings and giving up two runs on five hits with three strikeouts and two walks. Lucas Erceg pitched a scoreless ninth for his second save. At the plate, Pasquantino was 2-for-3 with a double, a home run, and five RBIs. India was 1-for-3 with a home run, a walk, and two RBIs.
Kansas City and Washington wrap up their series tomorrow. Seth Lugo (8-6, 3.46 ERA) takes the mound for the Royals with Jake Irvin (8-7, 4.90 ERA) for the Nationals. First pitch will be joined at 1:10pm on KFEQ (680AM/95.3FM).
You can follow Matt on X @KfeqMatt.
