BRONX, NY — It was Bobby Witt Jr. and Aaron Judge Monday night at Yankee Stadium as the Royals and Yankees crossed paths in a rematch of the 2024 American League Division Series where the Bronx Bombers eliminated Kansas City, three games to one. 

But more than that, there were two former LatinoMVP award winners going up against one another on the bump with the Royals starting RHP Seth Lugo and Yanks opting to RHP Carlos Carrasco. 

Image Credit: Bill Menzel/Latino Sports

The former Met Lugo, 35, a proud Puerto Rican-American, successfully transitioning from a reliever to an All-Star starting pitcher, was named—the 2024 American League LatinoMVP Starting Pitcher award winner and National League LatinoMVP Reliever/Closer of the Year in 2019 by the Latino Sports Writers and Broadcasters Association—while Carrasco, 38, of Barquisimeto, Venezuela, earned AL LatinoMVP Starting Pitcher award honors in 2020 as a Cleveland Guardian. 

For Carrasco, he is also a Roberto Clemente award recipient, winning the prestigious award in 2019. And matter of fact, there were three Roberto Clemente award winners active in the Royals-Yankees matchup Monday evening—Carrasco (2019), Aaron Judge (2023), and Salvador Pérez (2024). 

Image Credit: MLB/Bill Menzel-Latino Sports

On the mound, Lugo outlasted Carrasco, but didn’t have his best stuff as he tossed 6.2 innings with four earned runs allowed on seven hits, included with four solo home runs, to earn the loss. Carrasco, who began his outing on a first inning jam to ultimately escape it unscathed, surrendered a hit and one earned run across five innings, which came on a solo blast from Witt Jr. in the third, to give him the win. 

With the Yankees winning the series opener by a final of 4-1, the pair of former LatinoMVP winners, Lugo and Carrasco, each recorded four strikeouts and two walks in their respective outings.

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