There are realistic scenarios in which this Yankees-Royals series is replayed in the first days of October.
The clearest path would be for the Orioles to catch the Yankees in the AL East, while the Royals fail to overtake the Guardians, setting up the two teams to possibly match up in a No. 4 vs. No. 5 wild-card series.
Or the Yankees and Royals could battle in the division round a few days later.
Either way, that would be fine with Seth Lugo, who likes pitching in The Bronx and would present a problem for a Yankees offense that was library-quiet on Tuesday.
The former Mets reliever, who has been converted into an All-Star Royals starter, dazzled over seven shutout, three-hit innings in Kansas City’s 5-0 win over the Yankees.
In one of his best starts of his best season, the 34-year-old threw 10 different kinds of pitches in silencing Yankees bats that did not know what was coming and wound up with just three singles.
“I was locating a lot of pitches,” said Lugo, who tallied his first career outing of at least seven scoreless innings without a walk. “I don’t think there was a pitch that I didn’t think I could throw where I wanted.”
For most of his seven years in Queens, Lugo was a capable reliever whose vast arsenal was effective in outings of one or two frames with the Mets.
He always believed he could be a starting pitcher, which he proved last year — when he pitched well in 26 starts with the Padres after hitting free agency for the first time — and has solidified this season, in which he is in the Cy Young conversation.
Lugo has been the best starter on a Royals team that at the moment is in line to face the Orioles in the wild-card round.
If Baltimore leapfrogs the Yankees and the Royals remain as the No. 5 seed, there would be a three-game series between the Yankees and Royals, a notion Lugo is aware of.
The righty said he would be ready to face any opponent, though he does enjoy The Bronx.
“The atmosphere’s great. It’s a great mound … the dirt is excellent,” said Lugo, who owns a 2.55 ERA in 35 ¹/₃ innings lifetime against the Yankees and a 2.70 ERA at the Stadium. “A lot of energy. It’s always fun.”
It’s more fun for him when that energy gets zapped. Gleyber Torres singled to begin the Yankees’ first inning and then singled again with two outs in the sixth inning.
In between those at-bats, Lugo sat down 17 straight Yankees batters.
He struck out 10 by hitting his spots with probably the deepest repertoire in baseball. Statcast credited him as having thrown nine distinct pitches, but “it merges the slurve and sweeper at times,” Lugo said.
The Yankees unveiled a lineup with Jasson Dominguez that may project as their strongest one-through-nine when the order is going well.
It was not going well against Lugo, who said, “You don’t ever really get comfortable” against the Yankees order, though he sure looked it.
If the two teams meet in a couple weeks, the Yankees — who did score four runs in seven innings against Lugo on June 10 — would have to make some adjustments.
“The playoffs is a different animal,” Torres said. “If we face [Lugo] again, we for sure have to do different things.”
