Royals offense turns a corner in win over Astros

Jaylon Thompson, The Kansas City Star on May 12, 2025

Published in Baseball

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HOUSTON — The Kansas City Royals were left with a sour taste after dropping a three-game series to the Boston Red Sox last weekend.

The Royals scored just four runs against the Red Sox. On Sunday, Kansas City was held to four hits in a 3-1 loss at Kauffman Stadium.

What a difference a day makes.

The Royals found an offensive rhythm against the Houston Astros. There were contributions throughout the lineup in the 7-5 victory at Daikin Park.

Michael Massey set the tone early. In the second inning, Massey launched a solo homer off Astros rookie starter Ryan Gusto. Later, Kyle Isbel extended the inning with a two-out double to flip the lineup over.

The Royals (25-18) capitalized from there. Jonathan India and Vinnie Pasquantino recorded RBI singles. Then Bobby Witt Jr. provided the big hit with an RBI triple over Astros right-fielder Cam Smith.

Witt raced around the bases in 11.07 seconds. It was the third fastest home-to-third gallop — behind Arizona Diamondbacks outfielder Corbin Carroll (twice) — this season.

The Royals are 17-4 since April 20. They rank first in wins and earned run average during the stretch.

Michael Wacha lowered those numbers on Monday. He tossed 6 1/3 innings and continued a string of quality starts from the pitching staff. Wacha scattered eight hits and allowed two runs while collecting a few timely defensive plays to escape trouble.

He won his third game and now sports a 2.96 ERA.

The Astros (20-20) didn’t score until the seventh inning. Jake Meyers and Zach Dezenzo added a pair of doubles as Houston scored twice. An inning later, Meyers collected an RBI single as Houston added three more runs.

Kansas City has won three of the four games in the regular-season series. And the offense, notably, has picked up of late.

The Royals have scored totals of seven, eight, 10 and 11 runs in games since the start of May (12 games). They scored seven-plus runs three times in 31 games before then.

Here are more notable aspects of Monday’s game:

Jonathan India sparks Royals offense

India had a productive night at the plate. The Royals leadoff man finished 3 for 4 with two RBI singles.

In the second inning, India helped set up the four-run frame. He laced a single into center field as Isbel scored from second base.

Later, India drove home Cavan Biggio with a second RBI single. It was his third three-hit game of the season with the last one occurring on April 19 against the Detroit Tigers.

What’s next: The Royals continue their three-game series against the Houston Astros. Left-hander Kris Bubic (4-2, 1.69 ERA) will start against Astros ace Framber Valdez (2-4, 3.94 ERA) in Tuesday’s matchup at 8:10 p.m. ET.

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