The Kansas City Royals took control of Sunday’s game at Cincinnati early, but did their most damage late in an 8-1 series-sweeping win of the Reds.

Dairon Blanco went two-for-three at the plate, including a solo home run in the fifth. The Royals’ scoring began in the third with a single from Vinnie Pasquantino, followed by a sacrifice fly by Salvador Perez. Pasquantino also brought in a run with a sac fly in the fifth. The Royals plated four runs in the ninth off three singles and a Kyle Isbel double. Michael Massey went three-for-four to also contribute to the Royals’ 13 hits. Cincinnati’s only run came on a bases-loaded walk by Sam Long in the seventh. Brady Singer logged six punchouts with five hits and a walk in six innings to claim his ninth win of the year. Andrew Abbott took the loss for Cincinnati, allowing four runs on six hits with one walk and four strikeouts, while the other four runs were assessed to Casey Legumina.

Losses by the Guardians and Twins have the Royals (69-55) just three games behind Cleveland in the AL Central and one game shy of the Twins for the second wild card spot. The Red Sox are 3.5 games behind the Royals for the third spot. The Royals return home to Kauffman Stadium for the start of a three-game series Monday against the Los Angeles Angels. Pregame coverage begins at 6:30 on KMMO FM 102.9, with first pitch at 7:10.