ATLANTA (Interstat) — Seth Lugo delivered six and one-third scoreless innings and Carter Jensen homered as the Kansas City Royals salvaged the final game of their season-opening series with a 4-1 victory over the Atlanta Braves on Sunday at Truist Park.

Facing a potential sweep after being outscored 12-2 in the first two games, the Royals rode Lugo’s efficient start and timely hitting to secure their first win of the 2026 campaign before a crowd of 37,961. The game time was 2 hours, 11 minutes.

Lugo (1-0) scattered five hits, walked none and struck out three, expertly navigating a potent Braves lineup. He exited with one out in the seventh inning after Mike Yastrzemski’s double, but reliever Matt Strahm stranded the runner to preserve a 3-0 lead.

The Royals, who had mustered only seven hits in each of the first two losses, again tallied seven hits but made them count, scoring single runs in the third, fourth, fifth and eighth innings.

Kansas City broke through against Braves starter Grant Holmes (0-1) in the third. After a challenge overturned a force play at second, putting Nick Loftin on first, Maikel Garcia singled. Bobby Witt Jr. then lined an RBI single to right, scoring Loftin for a 1-0 lead. Witt finished the series with five hits.

Jensen extended the lead in the fourth, driving a Holmes offering over the right-center field wall for his first home run of the season.

The Royals added another in the fifth. Loftin led off with a double, advanced to third on a flyout, and scored on Vinnie Pasquantino’s sharp RBI single to right, making it 3-0.

Holmes lasted five innings, allowing three runs on five hits with four strikeouts. Braves reliever Didier Fuentes provided four strong innings of relief, giving up just two hits and one run.

Kansas City tacked on an insurance run in the eighth against Fuentes. Witt walked, stole second, and advanced to third on Pasquantino’s single. Jensen then lifted a sacrifice fly to deep center, scoring Witt for a 4-0 advantage.

The Braves avoided the shutout in the bottom of the eighth when catcher Drake Baldwin connected for a solo home run off Royals reliever John Schreiber, his second of the season, trimming the deficit to 4-1.

Lucas Erceg closed the door in the ninth for his first save. After a one-out single by Yastrzemski, Erceg induced a game-ending 6-4-3 double play from Ozzie Albies, started by Witt at shortstop.

The most critical sequence of the game occurred in the bottom of the seventh inning, with the Royals clinging to a 3-0 lead. Lugo had just allowed a double to Yastrzemski, putting the tying run at the plate with one out. Manager Matt Quatraro turned to left-hander Matt Strahm to face the heart of Atlanta’s order. Strahm needed just two pitches to extinguish the threat, getting Albies to fly out to right and Michael Harris II to line out sharply to first baseman Pasquantino. This high-leverage escape maintained the three-run cushion and momentum for Kansas City, setting the stage for their added run in the eighth.

Pasquantino went 2-for-4 with an RBI for Kansas City. Yastrzemski and Albies each had two of Atlanta’s seven hits.

With the win, the Royals improved to 1-2, while the Braves fell to 2-1. Kansas City opens its home schedule Monday against the Minnesota Twins. Atlanta continues its homestand Monday against the Athletics.

The game’s final score of 5 total runs went under the sportsbook over/under line of 8. Pregame projections from Interstat had given Atlanta a 54% probability to win and forecast a 3-2 Royals victory.