The Kansas City Royals continued to shake off the doldrums of their recent seven-game losing streak on Friday night.
The Royals earned a pivotal 5-0 victory over the Minnesota Twins at Kauffman Stadium. The win vaulted the club into second place in the American League Central race.
KC improved to 77-65 and sits a half-game ahead of the Twins (76-65) in the division. The Royals are four games behind the AL Central-leading Cleveland Guardians, pending their result Friday evening.
There are AL Wild Card implications, too, as the Twins dropped to the final Wild Card spot. The Royals are five games clear of the Seattle Mariners (72-70) and 5 1/2 games clear of the Boston Red Sox (71-70), both sitting outside the playoffs.
Royals 5, Twins 0: Game 1 Recap
The Royals received six shutout innings from All-Star starter Cole Ragans. The left-hander silenced the Twins with his electric fastball.
Ragans threw 48 fastballs on the night. He generated 26 swings and four whiffs, per Baseball Savant. The fastball helped Ragans get ahead early in counts and he utilized his off-speed pitches to put hitters away.