Royals Sweep Twins, Ragans Reaches 200 Strikeouts

The Kansas City Royals swept the Minnesota Twins in a crucial series, with standout performances from pitchers Michael Wacha and Cole Ragans. Wacha pitched seven scoreless innings in Sunday's 2-0 win, while Ragans struck out his 200th batter of the season in Friday's 5-0 victory, making him the fifth Royals pitcher to reach that milestone. The series sweep moved the Royals 2.5 games ahead of the Twins for the second AL wild card spot and placed them solidly in second place in the AL Central. Ragans' 204 strikeouts place him third in the majors behind Tarik Skubal's 208 and Chris Sale's 206. Despite their slump, the Twins still hold a four-game lead over Boston for the final AL wild card spot.