Travis d’Arnaud’s jack to center field with one out in the ninth sent Atlanta Braves home Saturday night with hope that they would join the Kansas City Royals in the postseason, as the Braves dropped the Royals 2-1 at Truist Park.

Sam Long delivered the 2-0 pitch that turned into the home run, giving him his third loss of the season. Seth Lugo, Michael Lorenzen, and Daniel Lynch IV each pitched two innings, with each claiming three strikeouts while allowing a total of four hits and three walks. The Royals had a 1-0 lead after three, when Freddy Fermin scored on a double play. A throwing error from Lorenzen allowed the Braves to tie the game in the following inning.

Braves pitching again squelched the Royals’ offense, recording 13 strikeouts and allowing just three hits and three walks. Starter Reynaldo López claimed nine of those punchouts in his six innings of work, while Raisel Iglesias picked up his sixth win of the season.

Detroit’s loss to Chicago means that the Royals are still a game behind the Tigers for the second wild card spot. A Detroit win Sunday afternoon would consign the Royals to facing the Astros at a Minute Maid Park where the Royals went 0-4 last month, while a Tigers loss and Royals win would send the Royals to Baltimore, where the Royals went 1-2 at the beginning of the season.

Meanwhile, the Braves are sitting a game ahead of the Mets and Diamondbacks for the second wild card spot, with two games still to make up against New York. The Royals will look to snap Atlanta’s five-game winning streak and prevent the sweep Sunday afternoon, with pregame at 1:30 p.m. and first pitch at 2:20 on KMMO AM 1300.