The Kansas City Royals are in a tightly contested race for the final spot in the American League Wild Card standings.

Five teams are chasing a postseason berth. And the Royals can’t afford to let any more winnable games fall by the wayside.

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The Royals understand it’s time to make a late-season push. Their top veterans — such as Bobby Witt Jr., Salvador Perez and Michael Wacha — must guide the team down the stretch.

Wacha answered the call Friday night. He limited the Minnesota Twins to one run across 5 2/3 innings as the Royals earned a 2-1 victory at Kauffman Stadium. It was Wacha’s ninth win of the 2025 season and kept KC close in the wild-card chase.

“You need a guy that you know what you’re going to get pretty much every time out,” Royals manager Matt Quatraro said. “And even the games that haven’t gone his way, you know it goes awry here or there, but it’s not like he never gives you a chance to stay in the game.”

Wacha hasn’t received adequate run support this season. The Royals gave him two total runs in his last two starts. And Wacha entered Friday’s action with the second-fewest runs of support among pitchers with at least 27 starts.

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The Royals gave Wacha an early lead Friday. Third baseman Maikel Garcia belted a two-run homer in the third inning off returning Twins starter Pablo Lopez. It was Garcia’s 16th home run as the Royals took a two-run advantage.

“When we see Wacha was going to pitch, we feel like we’re going to win every single game,” Garcia said. He shows up every night. He throws a lot of pitches and he executes every pitch — changeups, sinkers, cutters. And that’s great to have Wacha here. He did a great job today and all season long.”

Throughout Friday’s game, Wacha kept the lead intact. He scattered four hits — including consecutive doubles in the fifth inning. The Twins scored a run after catcher Jhonny Pereda drove in shortstop Brooks Lee.

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That was the only damage Wacha surrendered. He tossed 51 of 83 pitches for strikes while issuing two walks and striking out five batters. Wacha had command of six pitches and generated 40 swings alongside 12 whiffs, per Baseball Savant.

“I’ve always said, it starts with the starting pitcher setting the tone out there,” Wacha said. “(It’s) just going out there and trying to give the guys a chance to win a ballgame. Let our offense do our thing, and (Garcia) came through with a big-time two-run shot off a really good pitcher. That ended up being all we needed today.”

Later, the Royals bullpen combined to stymie the Twins. KC relievers Angel Zerpa, John Schreiber, Daniel Lynch IV and Taylor Clarke bridged the gap to closer Carlos Estévez in the ninth. Estévez notched his 38th save as the Royals won their second straight game.

“It was a lot of fun to watch to see those guys come in and get their guy they’re supposed to get,” Wacha said.

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The Royals (72-69) inched closer to the Seattle Mariners in the AL Wild Card race. On Friday, the Mariners (73-68) lost to the Atlanta Braves. KC is now one game behind Seattle for the third and final wild-card spot heading into the weekend.

Bobby Witt Jr. exits game

The Royals made a significant defensive change in the seventh inning. Royals manager Matt Quatraro inserted utilityman Nick Loftin into the game for defense.

Loftin came in to play third base and Garcia shifted to shortstop. Witt — who started at shortstop — was removed from the game with low-back spasms.

“Right now, we think it’s a back spasm,” Quatraro said postgame. “You know, low back spasm locked up pretty good on him.”

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Quatraro said the injury occurred some time before Witt exited in the seventh inning. Witt talked with the Royals’ training staff to alert them of the injury. After the game, Witt was getting treatment and a further evaluation.

Witt finished 0-for-3 before departing. He came in hitting .295 with 21 home runs and 77 RBIs in 139 games this year.

Garcia finished the game at shortstop. He detailed the switch to shortstop and how he handled the quick position change.

“It’s not about moving to short, it’s just like we lost our best player,” Garcia said. “We don’t know if we lost him, but you know, we feel like that and we just hope he’s OK and ready to play tomorrow.”

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Witt has dealt with back stiffness earlier this season. In August, he missed a game against the Twins at Target Field.

However, he was able to return in short order. The next day, he was back in the lineup as the Royals began a home series against the Washington Nationals.

What’s next: The Royals continue their three-game series against the Twins on Saturday night. Right-hander Stephen Kolek (4-5, 3.99 ERA) will start opposite Twins ace Joe Ryan (13-7, 3.08 ERA). First pitch is set for 6:15 p.m. Central.