Lugo allowed two baserunners in each of the first two innings of his start but kept the Red Sox off the board until the fifth, when he allowed a solo homer to Mickey Gasper and an RBI double to Wilyer Abreu. The Royals' bullpen took care of the rest to secure Lugo's fourth win since the All-Star break, and his seven strikeouts tied a season high that he set four times prior to Friday's start. Lugo has allowed three earned runs or less in three of his last four outings, and he'll take a 4.99 ERA and 1.45 WHIP over 164 innings into his next start, tentatively slated for next week on the road against the Astros.

Lugo began his outing poorly, giving up two runs on five hits in the first inning. The veteran righty settled down from there, yielding only one more run and three more hits over his remaining four frames. While this wasn't Lugo's sharpest outing, it was a clear improvement over the nine-run, 3.2-inning start he registered his previous time on the mound. Lugo will carry a 5.04 ERA, 1.44 WHIP and 119:51 K:BB over 159 innings spanning 29 starts into his next outing, which is slated to be a road matchup in Boston.