Power surge

The Royals go on a home run hitting spree of record-breaking proportions.

Michael Lorenzen gave up four home runs in his start on Sunday against the Baltimore Orioles. Nobody cares.

That’s because the Royals bashed a franchise-record seven homers of their own. You read that correctly. The Royals clubbed seven home runs on Sunday. They rode those bombs to an 11-6 victory. The homer-palooza was the exclamation point of a series where the Royals took two of three from the Orioles and capped a road trip where they won five games against only one loss. They have won 11 of 13.

At the start of this series on Friday, the Royals as a team had hit just 15 home runs all season. All season. Every other team in the majors had hit at least 21 homers. After getting shutout in the first game against the Orioles the Royals launched three dingers on Saturday before going off with those seven on Sunday. They have hit 40 percent of their 2025 home run total in just two days.

Homer-palooza indeed. This was a power surge that was as thrilling as it was unexpected. A literal home run hitting spree.

Regression flows both ways.

There’s only one way to recap this game. Home run by home run by home run by…You get the picture.

We begin in the second inning.

Maikel Garcia
Exit Velocity: 101.2 mph, Launch Angle: 30°, Distance: 395 feet

The Royals third baseman on the day got the festivities started.

That was a cutter flatter than I-70 west of Russell. At 88 mph, it floated right into Garcia’s nitro zone.

Entering play on Sunday, Garcia was hitting .307/.370/.439 with a wRC+ of 130. That wRC+ was second only to Bobby Witt Jr.’s 135. Yes, Garcia has been that good. For a moment, I was worried that Garcia was running the same playbook he used last season. You know…a hot start with a couple of home runs to get everyone’s hopes up before he settled back in to below league average offensively. Except his dry spell with the home runs—he last left the yard on March 31—wasn’t that barren otherwise. This road trip has helped, as Garcia once again got hot. He hit .500/538/.833 over these six games. He also swiped four bags and didn’t get caught, which reverses an earlier trend.

If Garcia becomes A Guy…I need to pace myself here. We’re only on the first damn home run.

Jonathan India
Exit Velocity: 106.1 mph, Launch Angle: 18°, Distance: 393 feet

I really like Jonathan India. I’ve written that almost every time I’ve mentioned him this season. Yes, the numbers aren’t there…yet. But the guy is walking 14 percent of the time and his on base percentage is a respectable .328. Could it be better? Hell, yes. I expect it to improve.

So I was thrilled when he lasered his first home run as a Royal. It was a typical India plate appearance where he just threw down. His home run came on the seventh pitch of the at bat. It gave the Royals a 4-3 lead in the fifth inning, and it was a laser.

Watching the bat meet the ball, I don’t think anyone thought that was going to sail over the fence. It looked like he stung it, sure. But it left the bat on a line. It vibed more double than dinger.

It sure left the yard in a hurry.

A 4.1 second hang time and it got only 51 feet off the ground. Crazy.

That 18-degree launch angle is tied for the second-lowest angle on a home run this season. Vlad Guerrero Jr. hit one at 17 degrees last week.

Maikel Garcia
Exit Velocity: 106.3 mph, Launch Angle: 25°, Distance: 419 feet

Flat cutters. Hanging sliders. Garcia doesn’t care. Both are appetizing pitches and the man was hungry for homers.

I love this GIF. The guys in the dugout are rising as one while Garcia just drops the bat. “Yeah, I just did THAT.” Badass.

This blast came in the sixth inning and tied the game at five. The Orioles were intent on matching the Royals home run for home run in the early going and this was quite the back-and-forth affair. Garcia’s home run came in the half inning after Cedric Mullins and Ryan O’Hearn both went deep to give the Orioles that one-run edge.

That bat drop is like, “I saw what you did. I’m coming for you.” I enjoy the message.

If Garcia becomes A Guy…Wait…This was just thethird home run of the afternoon. There were four more.

Bobby Witt Jr.
Exit Velocity: 106.7 mph, Launch Angle: 35°, Distance: 407 feet

If you thought the Royals were going to throw a homer party and their main man Bobby wasn’t going to get involved, I don’t know what to tell you. One inning after Garcia tied the game, Witt gave them a lead they would not relinquish.

This was the counterpoint to the India lasered home run, a high, arcing launch. Compare and contrast, if that’s your thing.

A soaring blast that scraped the clouds. Forgive me for waxing poetic, but how can one resist when this angle exists?

As soccer commentator Ray Hudson would say…Magesterial.

Witt was in something of a dry spell in the Baltimore series. He hadn’t had a hit all series. His 22-game hitting streak was snapped. In fact, he struck out in his final at bat in Tampa and, prior to this home run, was 0-12 with five strikeouts.

This may be the shot that gets Witt unstuck. He doubled in his final at bat.

Vinnie Pasquantino
Exit Velocity: 100.1 mph, Launch Angle: 30°, Distance: 380 feet

Vinnie Pasquantino took advantage of a rain delay in Saturday’s game to shave his beard, keeping a moustache and a soul patch. Baseball players, man. Weird bunch. So, without the beard, Pasquantino hit a home run on Saturday. Then he did it again on Sunday, going back-to-back with Witt in the seventh to give the Royals a 7-5 lead.

This homer came on a 3-2 changeup that was, as you can see, down in the zone. Pasquantino took the ol’ nine iron and golfed it over the wall. The 3-1 pitch prior was a four-seamer that was pretty much middle-middle. I couldn’t believe that Pasquantino watched that one go by. But he’s a thoughtful enough hitter that I would surmise he was looking for something else, either a different pitch or a different location. Anyway, it worked out.

Small sample size, but Pasquantino is now hitting .500/500/1.375 sans beard.

I love this still from the third base side. It’s raw power.

For you Seinfeld fans, it was around this time that Jake Eisenberg dropped a “They’re real, and they’re spectacular!” about this home run barrage. As noted last week, Jake’s a good one.

Luke Maile
Exit Velocity: 106.1 mph, Launch Angle: 27°, Distance: 419 feet

Want to know something funny? None of the Royals previous five home runs would’ve carried the fence at Coors Field in Colorado. Then Luke Maile stepped to the plate and hit the Royals first absolute no-doubter-would’ve-been-out-in-all-30-parks blast of the afternoon.

My favorite thing about this GIF is the reaction of Charlie Morton. He grooved a 3-1 fastball and then, once contact was made, just stared off into the abyss.

Maile just joined the club this weekend after Salvador Perez experienced hip soreness after he hit another double against the Tampa Bay Rays on Thursday. He’s put together a good season in Omaha, hitting .286/.434/.381 in 42 at bats. His time on the club figures to be short, depending on when Perez is ready to get back behind the plate. And with over seven years of major league service time, Maile has the right to refuse an option to the minors, so his time in the organization may be short as well. This was a fantastic way for him to contribute.

I am not a Star Wars guy, but I can appreciate this:

Plus, it was a Solo shot! Thank you! This gave the Royals an 8-5 lead.

Michael Massey
Exit Velocity: 99.6 mph, Launch Angle: 28°, Distance: 404 feet

It’s been a rough start to the season for Michael Massey, who’s giving Hunter Renfroe a run for the least productive Royal. Entering play Sunday, he had come to the plate 116 times and collected just 23 hits. Only four of those hits have gone for extra bases, all doubles.

As his teammates were bingeing on a home run feast, Massey didn’t seem to have gotten an invitation. In fact, entering the eighth inning, he was the only Royal without a hit. That changed on one pitch.

That was a nice, short, compact swing. According to Statcast, Massey’s swing was clocked at just 67.1 mph. His average swing speed this year is 70.2 mph. You’re not hitting a lot of home runs when you’re swinging the bat that short and compact. Of all the home runs this year, just 14 have been hit with a slower bat speed than Massey’s in the eighth.

Yet this was a no-doubter, a home run in all 30 ballparks. It provided the final margin in the Royals 11-6 victory. One for the record books.

Seven home runs. Six of the solo variety and one with a man on for Massey. Here’s a summary of the carnage as sorted by Baseball Savant.

Prior to Sunday, the Royals had had a multi-homer game just twice all season. One of those games was on Saturday. The other was on March 31 when Garcia and Salvador Perez both left the yard in an 11-1 win against the Milwaukee Brewers.

This was quite the unexpected power surge. But it certainly was a fun one.