Daniel Lynch IV solid in start as Royals beat Astros, 5-2

Jaylon Thompson, The Kansas City Star on Sep 16, 2026

Published in Baseball

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HOUSTON — Kansas City Royals starter Daniel Lynch IV felt like he was getting close. In his last seven starts, he had made progress after returning to the starting rotation.

Yet, he still hadn’t put together a dominant outing.

On Wednesday, Lynch stood tall against the Houston Astros. The left-hander pitched with conviction across five shutout innings at Daikin Park. And that was enough for him to walk away victorious in the Royals’ 5-1 win.

Lynch relied on his off-speed pitches against the Astros. After allowing a leadoff double to Houston star Jeremy Pena, Lynch faced American League MVP candidate Yordan Alvarez in a key spot.

Alvarez had mashed 39 homers this season and entered Wednesday’s game hitting .273 against left-handed pitchers.

Lynch was undeterred. He retired Alvarez on three pitches — including an 88.7-mph slider that darted out of the strike zone. From there, Lynch retired seven of the next nine hitters he faced by relying on his defense.

In the third inning, Lynch got Alvarez a second time in a big spot. After Pena reached again, this time with a one-out single, Lynch faced the Astros slugger in a scoreless game.

Alvarez was ready, but Lynch threw a 93.2-mph sinker that Alvarez rolled over to second baseman Michael Massey. The Royals turned an inning-ending double play and avoided further trouble.

Lynch threw 49 of his 72 pitches for strikes. He threw 24 change-ups — all to right-handers — and registered 12 total called strikes and seven whiffs.

The Royals struggled to score early. Two chances fell by the wayside against Astros starter Cristian Javier. But Royals outfielder John Rave broke through in the fourth inning with a two-run homer.

Javier challenged Rave with an 89.7-mph cutter down and inside. Rave was ready for it and lined the baseball into the right-field seats. It was his sixth home run of the season and gave the Royals a two-run lead.

The Royals held on to the advantage. In the seventh inning, Houston's Jose Altuve and Yanier Diaz singled off right-hander Nolan Hoffman. They would be left stranded, however, as Hoffman and lefty Anthony Gose got out of the jam.

Gose struck out former Royals outfielder Nelson Velazquez. He then retired Daulton Varsho to end the threat.

KC would take advantage. Massey hit a solo homer in the eighth on a top-shelf 93.9-mph fastball from right-hander Enyel De Los Santos.

The ball clanged off the right-field foul pole. It was Massey’s 12th home run of the year; he has now hit safely in 23 of his last 31 games.

Later, Carter Jensen hit an RBI double as Josh Rojas and Isaac Collins scored after some heads-up baserunning.

Royals reliever Nate Pearson and Steven Cruz allowed a late run, but the Astros never threatened.

The Royals (67-85) snapped a three-game losing streak and will look to win the series in Thursday’s finale.

Houston fell to 76-76. Javier took the loss, allowing two earned runs across 5 1/3 innings.

What’s next?

Royals right-hander Seth Lugo (7-8, 4.99 ERA) will start Thursday evening’s series finale at Daikin Park. Houston had not announced a starter as of late Wednesday evening; first pitch is set for 6:15 p.m. Central Time.