Royals' Vinnie Pasquantino leaves game with heat-related illness

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KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Kansas City Royals first baseman Vinnie Pasquantino left Saturday night's 6-2 win over the Chicago White Sox with a heat-related illness after striking out in the first inning.

“I kind of blacked out,” he said after the game. “I was kind of moving around weird because I was trying to figure out what was going on. I wasn’t very comfortable. I basically couldn’t slow my heart rate down.

“I think (manager Matt Quatraro) kind of hinted at it, but five seconds after I struck out, I puked all over the bathroom.”

The game-time temperature was 94 degrees.

Pasquantino, who called timeout during his at-bat, struck out swinging. When the Royals took the field for the second inning, left fielder Nick Loftin moved to first base. John Rave took over for Loftin in left and moved into Pasquantino's third spot in the batting order.

Rave had two hits, including a home run, and scored two runs.

“I try to show up to the park every day and prepare the same way, whether I’m in there or not,” Rave said. “I had taken swings today and been moving around a little bit. It usually doesn’t happen that early in the game. But I was ready to go.”

He hit a home run in his first at-bat, had a bunt single in his next at-bat, and scored from first on a double by Maikel Garcia, drawing praise from Quatraro.

“For him to score from first was absolutely (huge),” he said. Then he quipped, “I don’t think that Vinnie would have done that.”

The Royals drafted Pasquantino in 2019. He leads the team with 80 RBIs, is tied for the team lead with 22 home runs and is hitting .259.

Pasquantino says he plans to be in the lineup for Sunday’s series finale, as long as he clears medical protocol. He said he did everything to prepare for the heat, but it wasn’t enough.

“I prepared myself well for the game today,” he said. “It just it hit me. And I don’t really know how to explain it. That’s never happened to me before. I’m sure people are gonna want to (say), ‘Hey, drink some water or something.’ I was hydrated going into the game, I was ready to rock, and it just snuck up on me. So we’ll figure out what happened, and be better for it next time.”

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