Grant McCray tripled in a run and scored another in a two-run second inning, Blake Snell combined with three relievers on a shutout and the San Francisco Giants completed a surprising three-game road sweep over the playoff-contending Kansas City Royals with a 2-0 win Sunday afternoon.
A seventh straight defeat dropped the Royals (82-74) into a tie with the Detroit Tigers for the second American League wild-card playoff spot with just six games to play. The Minnesota Twins also had a chance to join the tie by the end of the day pending the result of the second game of their doubleheader against the Boston Red Sox.
The Giants (77-79) did all their scoring against Royals ace Seth Lugo (16-9) in the second after Jerar Encarnacion singled with one out. McCray lashed his triple to right field to open the scoring. One out later, he jogged home on a single by Brett Wisely.
Those were the only two runs and the only three hits the Giants got off Lugo in his seven innings. He struck out five and didn’t walk anyone.
Snell (5-3) was even better in his six innings, limiting the Royals to two hits and one walk. He struck out nine in his second consecutive no-run effort and his seventh of the season.
Sean Hjelle struck out the side in the seventh for the Giants, before Tyler Rogers survived a bases-loaded scare in the eighth in which he walked Bobby Witt Jr. intentionally with two on and two away in order to face Salvador Perez. Rogers got the standout catcher to pop out to retain the shutout.
The Royals also threatened in the ninth against Giants closer Ryan Walker, who hit MJ Melendez with a pitch leading off the inning. But facing the potential tying run in three straight at-bats, Walker struck out Hunter Renfroe, got Yuli Gurriel to ground out and induced a popout from Michael Massey to lock down his ninth save.
McCray’s triple was the only extra-base hit in a game that featured just six total hits, three by each team.