Royals' latest win reveals make-or-break element to unlock team's offense

After a frustrating series loss at home to the Milwaukee Brewers over the weekend, the Kansas City Royals were able to start the new week on the best possible note, with a win over their division rivals in the Cleveland Guardians.

Was it a convincing win? No, 4-2 results rarely are. But, there were several things that went right that ended up being key to grabbing the win.

Unsurprisingly, the rotation was at the peak of it's powers with a 7.0 inning masterclass from Michael Wacha, but despite four runs from the offense not being anything to get overly excited about, the way they went about generating those runs potentially revealed a winning strategy.

Sometimes the best way to generate runs is to just hit the ball really hard and really far. And doing it multiple times in the same game is even better.

Crazy, I know.

Last night, the Royals homered twice, accounting for three of their four runs. After a 2025 season where offense in general, but particularly power, was so hard to come by and now a mid-tier offense in the eyes of runs per game in the first 10 contests in 2026 - heavily weighted by the 13 run outlier last week - performances like these feel few and far between.

And as a matter of fact, they sort of are for Kansas City. In 10 games, the Royals have just three outings in which they've homered multiple times, but they're now a perfect 3-0 when that occurs.

Royals' questionable offense is at it's best when the ball is flying

It sounds simple, and pointless to point out, but difficulty cashing runs in on offensive opportunities has been an issue in Kansas City for far too long, and has already been a problem at certain points this year.

Homers obviously clear the bags or in the case of solo homers, they alleviate the need for any runners on base entirely.

And the results speak for themselves.

On March 30, in their 3-1 win over the Royals, the runs may not have been in an abundance, but it was an Kyle Isbel two-run shot and Isaac Collins solo homer that made all the difference.

Then, in that aforementioned 13-9 victory over those very same Twins the next day, a Jonathan India grand slam and an Isbel solo homer provided five runs in what ended up being a surprisingly narrow four-run win.

And now, in Monday's series opener in Cleveland, it was another India homer - this time a two-run blast - as well as a Carter Jensen solo shot that were the main reason for victory, offensively speaking of course.

Again, this theory isn't rocket science by any means and may not be a "theory" at all. However, it's already proving to be the difference in such an important season in the Royals' competitive window.

Plus, it also makes the team's offseason decision to move the outfield walls in at Kauffman Stadium make that much more sense.

The next chance for the Royals to test this theory will come on Tuesday afternoon in Game 2 of their AL Central road series versus the Guardians. First pitch from Progressive Field is at 12:10 p.m. CT.