Royals take series win against Blue Jays, as playoff race heats up

TORONTO, Canada (KMIZ)

The Kansas City Royals continued a hot start to the second half of the Major League Baseball season with a 7-4, extra innings win in rubber match action against the Toronto Blue Jays, on Sunday.

With the victory, skipper Matt Quatraro and company have won 16 out of their last 25 games and nine of their last 13 since the All-Star Break. The group is just 3.5 games out of a Wild Card spot, as well, as the playoff race begins to heat up.

Sunday's win came off the back of a crucial, go-ahead hit from Kyle Isbel in the 10th inning of the series finale in Toronto, as the outfielder hit an RBI double to spark the game-winning rally. After he got the bats going in extras, his teammates didn't leave any room for chance. Tyler Tolbert drove in two more on an RBI single to right field, while Bobby Witt Jr. scored on a wild pitch and Maikel Garcia hit a sac-fly to center to get up by five runs.

The rally would not have been possible without first baseman Vinnie Pasquantino, though. He hit the game-tying RBI single in the eighth to score Witt Jr. and give fans free baseball in Toronto.

On the hill, starter Seth Lugo made it 4.2 innings and allowed two earned runs on four hits, while fanning three Blue Jay batters. However, Hunter Harvey was the one to earn a win in relief for KC, pitching 1.0 inning and only yielding one hit.

Up next - Kansas City will continue its road swing with a trip to Boston. The Royals will start the series against the Red Sox on Monday, Aug, 4 at 6:10 p.m.