Kansas City Royals at Seattle Mariners

After not starting for two games with lower back tightness, Vinnie Pasquantino returned to the Royals’ starting lineup for their Friday series opener against the Mariners at T-Mobile Park in his normal spot in the order, hitting third and playing first base. “He feels better,” Royals manager Matt Quatraro said before the game. “It’s a good thing for him to keep moving.” Of course, any doctor will tell you that the best sort of movement for a sore back is of the lower-intensity variety. That’s how Pasquantino started his day, going for a morning walk around Seattle with his wife. He continued it with two hours of pregame treatment. And he capped it off with a nice, easy jog around the bases in the sixth inning of Kansas City’s 7-6 win, after blasting a four-seamer from Bryan Woo 404 feet off the facing of the second deck in right field for his fourth homer of the year. “He had a good day,” Quatraro said postgame. “He took some good, aggressive swings; I didn’t see him favoring \[his back\