Cole Ragans allowed just four hits over six scoreless innings as the Kansas City Royals beat the Minnesota Twins 5-0 on Friday night, moving ahead of the Twins in both the AL Central and wild card standings.
The Royals now lead by half a game for second place in the division and the second wild card spot.
“His velocity was good, his carry was good, the curveball was really good,” Royals manager Matt Quatraro said about Ragans. “How can you argue with those results?”
Michael Massey had three hits, including a home run, for the Royals.
“I was trying to get a good pitch to hit,” Massey said. “It’s been a while since I hit one, but I put a good swing on it.”
Ragans (11-9) earned his first win since August 14, when the Royals won 4-1 in Minneapolis, their only victory in Minnesota this season.
“I thought Sal (Perez) and I had a good plan,” he said. “We mixed it well. We got ahead early, and towards the end, I had to battle a bit. The defense was solid, and the guys kept adding runs throughout the game. It was a good team win.”
Zebby Matthews (1-3) took the loss, allowing four runs on nine hits over five innings.
“I thought Zebby pitched decently today,” Twins manager Rocco Baldelli said. “There were a few pitches and at-bats where he didn’t execute as he wanted, and they took advantage.”
Ragans struck out his third batter of the game — and his 200th of the season — to end the third inning, becoming the fifth pitcher in Royals history to achieve 200 strikeouts in a season. He is the first Royals pitcher to do so since Zack Greinke in 2009.
