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The Kansas City Royals are in a tightly contested race<\/a> for the final spot in the American League Wild Card standings.<\/p>\n Five teams are chasing a postseason berth. And the Royals can\u2019t afford to let any more winnable games fall by the wayside.<\/p>\n Advertisement<\/p>\n The Royals understand it\u2019s time to make a late-season push. Their top veterans \u2014 such as Bobby Witt Jr., Salvador Perez and Michael Wacha \u2014 must guide the team down the stretch.<\/p>\n 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\u2019s ninth win of the 2025 season and kept KC close in the wild-card chase.<\/p>\n \u201cYou need a guy that you know what you\u2019re going to get pretty much every time out,\u201d Royals manager Matt Quatraro said. \u201cAnd even the games that haven\u2019t gone his way, you know it goes awry here or there, but it\u2019s not like he never gives you a chance to stay in the game.\u201d<\/p>\n Wacha hasn\u2019t received adequate run support this season. The Royals gave him two total runs in his last two starts. And Wacha entered Friday\u2019s action with the second-fewest runs of support among pitchers with at least 27 starts.<\/p>\n Advertisement<\/p>\n The Royals gave Wacha an early lead Friday. Third baseman Maikel Garcia belted a two-run homer<\/a> in the third inning off returning Twins starter Pablo Lopez. It was Garcia\u2019s 16th home run as the Royals took a two-run advantage.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen we see Wacha was going to pitch, we feel like we\u2019re going to win every single game,\u201d Garcia said. He shows up every night. He throws a lot of pitches and he executes every pitch \u2014 changeups, sinkers, cutters. And that\u2019s great to have Wacha here. He did a great job today and all season long.\u201d<\/p>\n Throughout Friday\u2019s game, Wacha kept the lead intact. He scattered four hits \u2014 including consecutive doubles in the fifth inning. The Twins scored a run after catcher Jhonny Pereda drove in shortstop Brooks Lee.<\/p>\n Advertisement<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve always said, it starts with the starting pitcher setting the tone out there,\u201d Wacha said. \u201c(It\u2019s) 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.\u201d<\/p>\n 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 Est\u00e9vez in the ninth. Est\u00e9vez notched his 38th save as the Royals won their second straight game.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was a lot of fun to watch to see those guys come in and get their guy they\u2019re supposed to get,\u201d Wacha said.<\/p>\n Advertisement<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n The Royals made a significant defensive change in the seventh inning. Royals manager Matt Quatraro inserted utilityman Nick Loftin into the game for defense.<\/p>\n Loftin came in to play third base and Garcia shifted to shortstop. Witt \u2014 who started at shortstop \u2014 was removed from the game with low-back spasms<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cRight now, we think it\u2019s a back spasm,\u201d Quatraro said postgame. \u201cYou know, low back spasm locked up pretty good on him.\u201d<\/p>\n Advertisement<\/p>\n Quatraro said the injury occurred some time before Witt exited in the seventh inning. Witt talked with the Royals\u2019 training staff to alert them of the injury. After the game, Witt was getting treatment and a further evaluation.<\/p>\n Witt finished 0-for-3 before departing. He came in hitting .295 with 21 home runs and 77 RBIs in 139 games this year.<\/p>\n Garcia finished the game at shortstop. He detailed the switch to shortstop and how he handled the quick position change.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s not about moving to short, it\u2019s just like we lost our best player,\u201d Garcia said. \u201cWe don\u2019t know if we lost him, but you know, we feel like that and we just hope he\u2019s OK and ready to play tomorrow.\u201d<\/p>\n Advertisement<\/p>\nBobby Witt Jr. exits game<\/h2>\n