Intriguing numbers pepper big KC Royals Friday win

The KC Royals did precisely what they needed to do at Kauffman Stadium Friday night. Battling for the playoff berth that is so tantalizingly close, they beat Minnesota 5-0, nudged the Twins back into third place in the American League Central, and took over second place — and the lead for the AL's second Wild Card slot — for themselves.

The victory, Kansas City's second in a row following a concerning seven-game losing streak, put the club in position to chalk up another series win tonight when the two teams meet at 6:15 p.m. CDT for the second of their three weekend games. And it featured some interesting Royal numbers.

Let's check them out.

204: Cole Ragans and his strikeouts

Ragans was excellent in his 29th start of the season. He shut out Minnesota for six innings before handing the game over to the bullpen to begin the seventh (more on the pen in a moment). Ragans gave Minnesota only a double and three singles and walked only one.

He also struck out seven, which boosted his season strikeout total to 204 and made him the first Royal in 15 years to strike out at least 200 batters. Cy Young award winner Zack Greinke last accomplished the feat when he fanned 242 in 2009. Dennis Leonard holds the franchise record of 244.

Ragans is now 11-9 with a 3.33 ERA and those 29 starts tie him with seven other pitchers, including teammate Seth Lugo, for the major league lead.

5: Tommy Pham and his hitting

Pham has played in every Royals came since joining the club on a waiver claim last weekend. He's played right field four times and left field once.

More conspicuously, he's stepped into, and held, the leadoff spot in Kansas City's lineup for five straight games. He's 7-for-21 (.333) there, with two doubles and the home run that fueled Wednesday's losing streak-breaking victory over Cleveland, and has three three multi-hit games.

0: Look what the bullpen did for the KC Royals

Deservedly the focus of criticism all season long, Kansas City's disappointing bullpen was actually excellent for the second straight game. After Kris Bubic and Lucas Erceg set the stage by combining for two scoreless innings against the Guardians Wednesday night, James McArthur, Sam Long, and John Schreiber secured Friday's shutout by holding Minnesota scoreless and hitless for the final three frames.

3: Michael Massey's nice night

Massey went a perfect 3-for-3 Friday night, with his highlight at the plate coming in the fourth inning when he connected on a Zebby Matthews fastball for his 12th home run of the season. The trio of hits raised Massey's 80-game batting average to .266

.168: Bobby Witt Jr. and Salvador Perez

The Royals are 3-7 over the 10-game span that began Aug. 27 and ended Friday night. One reason that stretch included the club's season-worst seven-game losing streak was the combined slump of Bobby Witt Jr. and Salvador Perez.

How bad has that slump been? After both went hitless Friday, Kansas City's two biggest bats are an ugly 13-for-77, which puts them below the Mendoza Line at a collective .168. Witt is 8-for-39 (.205), Perez 5-for-38 (.132); Witt's three RBI are the only runs they've driven in.