By MATT PIKE
Jac Caglianone's monster game helped the Kansas City Royals erase an early deficit to defeat the Texas Rangers 5-3 at Kauffman Stadium, earning their first win over the Rangers this season.
The Rangers took a 2-0 lead through the first four innings, Jake Burger driving in Wyatt Langford in the second-inning with an RBI single for the the game’s first run. In the fourth inning, a pair of throwing errors allowed Evan Carter to circle the bases after he reached on a single, expanding Texas’ lead to.
Caglianone returned to Kansas City's lineup after missing the previous game against the Minnesota Twins with right shoulder soreness and ended Nathan Eovaldi’s no-hit bid with a leadoff home run in the fifth inning that sailed into the right-field bullpen to cut the Rangers lead in half.
A four run inning in the sixth propelled Kansas City into the lead as the Royals hit five extra base hits. Carter Jensen opened the inning with a double off the right-field fence and scored on Maikel Garcia’s one-out triple, tying the score. Garcia scored on Vinnie Pasquantino’s ground-rule double to center to give Kansas City their first lead of the game.
Caglianone's second home run of the game off reliever Jalen Beeks' first-pitch changeup to right-center brought home Pasquantino for a two-run shot that gave the Royals a 5-2 lead. It was Caglianone’s second multihomer game in the majors, he also hit a pair against the Rangers on June 19, 2025, the first two home runs of his career.
In the seventh inning, Joc Pederson tripled and scored on Corey Seager's groundout, capping the scoring. Steven Cruz earned the win, improving to 1-2 on the season, retiring all four batters he faced, striking out two. Alex Lange fanned two in in a hitless ninth for his fourth save this season, all in the last six Royals games. Kansas City has won five of the six games.
At the plate, Caglianone was 3-for-3 with two home runs and three RBI's with a stolen base. Kyle Isbel was 1-for-2 on the day with a walk, exiting in the seventh inning with a left foot plantar fascia injury.
Kansas City and Texas continue their series tomorrow. Seth Lugo (2-4, 3.91 ERA, 64K's) takes the mound for the Royals against MacKenzie Gore (4-5, 4.23 ERA, 70K's) for the Rangers. First pitch is at 6:40pm, pregame will be at 6 on KFEQ (680AM/95.3FM).
You can follow Matt on X @KfeqMatt.