Kansas City strengthened their position in the American League Wild Card race on Wednesday night, defeating the Washington Nationals 3-0.
A dominant bullpen performance was instrumental in the victory. Five Royals relievers combined to pitch 6 2/3 innings of two-hit ball, allowing just two hits and no runs after starter Michael Lorenzen exited early due to injury.
Robbie Grossman’s two-run double in the second inning provided the Royals with the only runs they would need. Michael Massey added an insurance run with a single in the sixth inning.
Daniel Lynch IV earned the win, pitching 2 2/3 scoreless innings of relief. Lucas Erceg recorded his 13th save of the season, extending the Royals’ bullpen scoreless streak to 14 1/3 innings.
The Nationals were held to just two hits and were shut out for the third consecutive game. James Wood and Nasim Nuñez had the lone hits for Washington.
With the win, the Royals improved to 84-74 and maintained their tiebreaker advantage over the Detroit Tigers for the second Wild Card spot.
The Kansas City Royals will look to complete a three-game sweep of the Washington Nationals today at 12:05 PM CT.
Michael Wacha (13-8, 3.28 ERA) will take the mound for the Royals, facing off against Patrick Corbin (6-13, 5.58 ERA) of the Nationals.
Pregame coverage begins at 11:30 AM on SuperStar Country 102.5 & 1530 AM.
