A pair of productive groundouts in the first inning put the Kansas City Royals ahead of the Cleveland Guardians, and the lead held as the Royals won the series with a 4-1 victory Sunday, July 27 at Kauffman Stadium.

Cleveland had set themselves up for another golden start, getting two singles and a hit-by-pitch off Noah Cameron. However, Cameron would escape without allowing a run, getting a flyout, strikeout, and a groundout. The Royals would then strike gold, turning Jonathan India’s leadoff walk and Bobby Witt Jr double into runs when Vinnie Pasquantino and Maikel Garcia each delivered groundouts. The Royals added a run in the fourth when Luke Maile’s double to left field scored John Rave from first. Garcia had another two-out RBI, sending a solo home run to left-center field. Cleveland’s only run came at the top of the seventh, when Gabriel Arias welcomed Angel Zerpa to the game with a solo home run.

Cameron picked up his fifth win of the season, pitching five shutout innings with six strikeouts, three hits and a walk. Carlos Estévez claimed his 27th save of the season. Guardians pitchers limited the Royals to four hits but allowed seven walks while striking out eight. One of the Royals hits was to Randal Grichuk, who started in left field less than 24 hours after the Royals picked him up from Arizona in exchange for pitcher Andrew Hoffman.

The Royals improve to 52-54, now 8.5 games behind Detroit in the AL Central, while four games behind Seattle and Texas for the third wild card spot. The Royals will now host Atlanta for a three-game series. Rich Hill will get the start, with first pitch at 6:40 p.m. Pregame coverage begins at 6 p.m. on KMMO-FM 102.9.