Their old team lost, but these former KC Royals found a lot to love about Opening Day

Few of the Kansas City Royals faithful who packed Kauffman Stadium for Thursday's Opening Day game against the Cleveland Guardians appreciated the club's rally-killing eighth-inning baserunning fiasco and the Guardians' three-run 10th frame that fueled their 7-4 victory. Rest assured, though, that at least two on hand for the first contest of the season liked what they saw.

That pair? Carlos Santana and Jakob Junis, former ex-Royals who witnessed the proceedings as Guardians after joining the club via free agency during the offseason. Junis, primarily a starter during his 2017-2022 Royals tenure, didn't pitch in this one, but Santana started at first base and singled and scored twice in four at-bats.

And they weren't the only former Royals who came out on the winning end Thursday. Here are some who stood out.

Andrew Benintendi and Michal A. Taylor helped the Chicago White Sox win

It's been four seasons since Benintendi and Taylor became Royals and ended up winning 2021 Gold Gloves. The club shipped Benintendi to the New York Yankees at the 2022 trade deadline and Taylor to the Minnesota Twins that winter.

Both now play on Chicago's South Side, and both helped the White Sox pound the Los Angeles Angels 8-1 on Opening Day. Benintendi's three-run homer, which scored Taylor, highlighted a five-run Chicago eighth that put the game out of LA's reach. Taylor went 1-for-3 in his first game with the Sox.

Also appearing in the contest, but not for the Sox, was ex-KC infielder Nicky Lopez, who just signed with the Angels. LA manager Ron Washington's choice to get the last out of that fateful eighth inning, Lopez walked a batter before giving Washington what he wanted.

It was the fourth time Lopez has pitched in the majors. He's 0-0 with a 9.82 ERA in 3.2 innings.

Aroldis Chapman wins a game out of the bullpen

Kansas City fans remember Chapman most as the reliever the Royals traded to the Texas Rangers in 2023 to get Cole Ragans. Chapman pitched only three months for KC before moving to the Rangers and then the Pirates before signing with the Boston Red Sox this winter.

Thursday, he made his first appearance for the Sox a winner. He pitched a scoreless bottom of the eighth against Texas and became the beneficiary of Boston's game-breaking three-run ninth that gave the Sox a 3-2 victory and him a pitching win.

Three other ex-KC hurlers figured in their teams' wins

It's been a while since any of them worked for the Royals, but a trio of former Kansas City pitchers helped their clubs snare Opening Day victories.

Tim Hill, a Royal in 2018 and 2019, and Luke Weaver, who appeared 14 times for them in 2022, combined to throw two scoreless innings in the Yankees' 4-2 victory over the Milwaukee Brewers. Hill worked two-thirds of a frame and Weaver one. Both earned holds.

Weaver may have made the Royals want him back after he saved three games in New York's American League Division Series triumph over them last season.

While Kansas City lost in extra innings, former Royal Matt Strahm put the finishing touches on the Philadelphia Phillies' 7-3 extra-inning win against the Washington Nationals. After his teammates struck for four 10th frame runs to break a 3-3 tie, Strahm, who pitched for the Royals in 2016 and 2017 and went 4-7 with a 45-game 3.81 ERA, retired the Nats in order in the 10th.

Ex-Royal Paul DeJong, who signed with the Nationals in February, went 0-for-4 for Washington, was not one of Strahm's three victims.