The Kansas City Royals defeated the Cincinnati Reds 7-1 on Friday, August 16.

The game was scoreless until the fourth inning, when Bobby Witt Jr. crushed his 25th homer of the year to give Kansas City a 1-0 lead.

Kansas City added to the lead with RBI singles from Salvador Perez and Adam Frazier. The Reds got a run back in the sixth, but that was all they could muster against Michael Lorenzen, who went 5 2/3 innings, allowing two hits and three walks.

The Royals added four runs in the ninth, three of which came off a home run from Vinnie Pasquantino.

The Royals improve to 67-55 on the season, five games back of Cleveland in the AL Central. Kansas City has a 2.5 game advantage over Boston to maintain the third wild card spot.

UP NEXT

The Royals continue their series in Cincinnati on Saturday, August 17. First pitch is at 5:40 p.m.