Pinch hitter Adam Frazier delivered a tiebreaking two-run single in the top of the ninth as the visiting Kansas City Royals inched closer to a wild-card berth by completing a three-game sweep of the Washington Nationals with a 7-4 victory on Thursday afternoon.
Hunter Renfroe hit a home run and Salvador Perez had two hits and an RBI for Kansas City (85-74), whose magic number to clinch a playoff spot is two.
The Royals close the regular season with a three-game series at the Atlanta Braves.
Kris Bubic (1-1) pitched a scoreless eighth and Lucas Erceg tossed a perfect ninth to notch his 14th save.
Luis Garcia Jr. homered for Washington (69-90), which has lost four straight games and nine of its last 10.
Kyle Finnegan (3-8) entered in the ninth and was tagged for three runs on two hits and three walks before being pulled with two outs.
Finnegan walked pinch hitter MJ Melendez and Michael Massey to start the ninth with the game tied 4-4. Massey and pinch runner Dairon Blanco advanced on Kyle Isbel’s sacrifice bunt before Frazier drove them in with a soft single to left.
Frazier stole second and later scored on Perez’s two-out single.
Washington scored an unearned run in the first to take a 1-0 lead and snap a 31-inning scoreless inning streak, one off the franchise record.
Dylan Crews reached first when second baseman Maikel Garcia dropped a routine popup. Crews advanced to third on a single by James Wood and then scored on a fielder’s choice.
The run also snapped a franchise record 26-inning scoreless streak by Royals pitchers.
Kansas City tied it 1-1 in the second when Renfroe belted his 14th home run, a 424-foot drive to center. Renfroe’s blast was the Royals’ first homer since Sept. 16, snapping a seven-game drought.
The visitors took a 4-1 lead in the third, stringing together a leadoff walk and five consecutive singles, including RBI hits by Tommy Pham, Bobby Witt Jr. and Yuli Gurriel.
The Nationals pulled even at 4-4 in the bottom of the third on Garcia’s 17th home run, a 400-foot drive that plated Wood and Juan Yepez.
Kansas City starter Michael Wacha allowed four runs (three earned) on five hits over five innings. Washington’s Patrick Corbin gave up four runs on six hits over 5 1/3 frames.
–Field Level Media
