Nelson Velásquez made his first triple of the season count, scoring two runners in the bottom of the ninth, then scoring on Nick Loftin’s sacrifice fly, to give the Kansas City Royals a much-needed 4-3 win over San Diego on Sunday afternoon at Kauffman Stadium.

The Royals entered Sunday’s game needing a pick-me-up, at risk of being swept by the Padres on top of losing starting pitcher Michael Wacha to the injury list with a fractured foot. They scored first in the fourth when Bobby Witt Jr singled in Maikel Garcia, but the Padres responded with an RBI single of their own in the fifth. A throwing error by Angel Zerpa in the eighth sparked the Padres’ two-run rally to take a 3-1 lead, before reliever Yuki Matsui gave up a single to Vinnie Pasquantino and walked Salvador Perez, setting up the Velásquez triple that flipped the game for good. Matsui took the loss in the blown save, spoiling Michael King’s seven innings of work where he allowed just one run off four hits while striking out four. The Royals’ Will Klein pitched a perfect ninth to claim the win, while starter Cole Ragans had one earned run off five hits and six strikeouts in six innings.

Kansas City will have the day off before taking their 36-25 record to Cleveland for a three-game series against the Central Division-leading Guardians.