Royals captain Salvador Perez served as the designated hitter and starter Seth Lugo pitched two innings against the Braves, who beat KC 2-1 on a walk-off homer by catcher Travis d’Arnaud in the bottom of the ninth.

The Royals authored an impressive year-to-year turnaround, reaching the playoffs after losing 106 games in 2023. According to MLB's research, the Royals are just the second team to ever appear in the postseason in a full season a year after losing 100 or more games. The other team to accomplish that feat? The 2017 Minnesota Twins.

Baltimore indeed beat the Twins 7-2, sending the Royals on to the playoffs. They’ll open next week with an AL Wild Card series at an opponent to be determined. KC could potentially overtake the AL’s second wild-card seed by the time this weekend — and the regular-season — is done.