ARLINGTON, Texas — Almost two weeks after his debut — and one day after being benched for the first time — Jac Caglianone hit his first two career home runs as the Kansas City Royals beat the Texas Rangers 4-1 on Thursday.
The 22-year-old won a lefty-lefty matchup by pulling a 95.5 mph fastball from Jacob Latz into the Rangers bullpen in right-center field to give the Royals a 3-0 lead in the second inning Thursday.
Caglianone, who played his first six games on the road before making his home debut against the New York Yankees, swung at Latz’s 2-2 pitch above the strike zone, then pointed toward center field as he rounded second base after his 387-foot drive.
The 6-foot-5 Caglianone mastered the lefty-lefty thing again to start the ninth, sending Robert Garcia‘s first pitch 439 feet over the Texas bullpen.
It was the Royals’ first three-game sweep at Texas since 2003.
Caglianone, the sixth overall pick in last year’s amateur draft out of Florida, hit 15 homers in 50 games combined with Double-A Northwest Arkansas and Triple-A Omaha before getting called up.
Vinnie Pasquantino hit a two-run shot off Texas starter Shawn Armstrong in the first inning of a bullpen game for the Rangers.
Caglianone went 0-for-5 in his big league debut at St. Louis on June 3. His average was at .196 after going 0-for-4 in the opener of a series at Texas and sitting out the second game.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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