Adam Frazier and the bullpen saves the day in 7-4 win.

Kansas City’s magic number is two

For the 2nd time in this series, the Royals had the bases loaded and nobody out and failed to score a run and a three-run homer of the bat of Luis Garcia Jr. saw Royals’ starter Michael Wacha blow a three-run lead on one pitch. This game had all the makings of a gut-punch loss. Fortunately, the bullpen stayed hot and Adam Frazier played hero in the 9th, taking a 7-4 win to sweep Washington.

Kansas City improves to 85-74 while the Nationals drop to 69-90. The Royals’ magic number is down to two and could be as low as one by the end of the day.

Washington opened up the scoring after Maikel Garcia’s misplayed a popup on the first play of the game, putting the Nationals up 1-0, but the Royals offense kept the line moving early on. Hunter Renfroe responded to Washington’s opening frame with a two-out solo homer the next half inning, tying the game at 1-1.

Kansas City wasn’t done, putting three more runs on the board the next inning. The first six Royals’ batters reached, starting with Paul DeJong’s walk and followed by five consecutive singles. The last came off the bat of Yuli Gurriel, putting Kansas City up 4-1, and with nobody out, Vance Wilson held Bobby Witt Jr. at 3rd base.

Freddy Fermin grounded into a force out at the plate before Renfroe popped out for the 2nd out. Garcia flew out to end the inning and strand the bases loaded, a common theme for the Royals’ offense of late.

Washington took advantage of the missed opportunity the very next inning. After Dylan Crews grounded out in the 3rd inning, the next two Nats reached via walk and single. Garcia Jr. then deposited an 0-1 hanging changeup from Wacha into the left-center field seats, tying the game 4-4.

The home run landed in a slew of empty seats, which makes this tweet from former Kansas City Star writer Andy McCullough that much more true.

After the homer, both offenses went quiet, with just three combined hits spread across the next five innings. Unfortunately for the Royals, all of them belonged to the Nationals. Washington starter Patrick Corbin gave his squad 2.1 hitless innings after his rough 3rd, followed by 1.2 more from Derek Law and Jose Ferrer.

Fortunately, Kansas City’s bullpen stayed hot, giving three scoreless innings of their own to pick up Wacha who was serviceable if not uninspiring aside from his one hiccup of an inning. The righty gave up three earned runs on the afternoon, all on the Garcia Jr. homer.

The bullpen kept the Royals in the game long enough to give the offense a shot against Nationals closer Kyle Finnegan, proving to be the deciding factor in the game. Finnegan started his outing by walking MJ Melendez, the first of four consecutive left-handed pinch hitters. Dairon Blanco replaced Melendez on the bases and delay stole 2nd base before a Michael Massey walk.

Kyle Isbel entered the game in place of DeJong. He saw one pitch, bunting it down the right field line to advance the runners. Pinch hitter Frazier then saved the day, punching an 0-2 high fastball into left field, driving in both runners and putting Kansas City up 6-4. He then stole second and scored on Salvador Perez’s two-out single, boosting the lead to 7-4.

Lucas Erceg entered the game for the save, pitching for the third consecutive day for the first time in his career. He sat the Nationals down in order to end the game and secure the sweep.

We go to Atlanta with a chance to go to the postseason for the first time since 2015.

Up Next: Royals at Braves, Friday, September 27, 6:20 PM CDT, Truist Park. RHP Brady Singer (9-12, 3.73 ERA) v. TBD.