Royals look to kick-start playoff push against Pirates

The Kansas City Royals are nearing the point in the season where they need to make a sustained upward move.

The Royals are five games below .500 and stand 5 1/2 games out of the final American League wild-card spot as they open a three-game home series against the Pittsburgh Pirates on Monday night.

The Pirates are the type of team against which a playoff contender needs to pick up wins. Pittsburgh is 15 games below .500 and ace right-hander Paul Skenes pitched Sunday, a stellar break for the Royals.

Also, Kansas City is coming off a 4-3 road trip against the Seattle Mariners and Arizona that culminated with Sunday's 4-0 victory over the Diamondbacks.

"We've got to stack good wins together," Royals manager Matt Quatraro told reporters after Sunday's win. "And this trip was a start. You get one game over on the trip, we'd like more, but we competed well in Seattle with close ballgames there.

"So to come out of there with a split and get the series win here, we've got to keep stacking those together."

All-Star shortstop Bobby Witt Jr. (12 homers) and veteran catcher Salvador Perez (10) both went deep in the fourth inning on Sunday. John Rave and Kyle Isbel had RBI singles in the fifth of the well-played contest.

"Winning the series, winning the road trip, that feels really nice," Rave said. "You want to take that momentum into the homestand and into the All-Star break, just keep it going."

The Pirates began a nine-game road trip by getting swept in a three-game set by the Mariners.

Pittsburgh didn't score a single run in the series, losing the opener 6-0 on Friday before being on the wrong end of consecutive 1-0 outcomes.

"It's frustrating," Pirates manager Don Kelly said after Sunday's blanking. "But (it's) part of baseball and finding a way to come back (Monday)."

Pittsburgh had 12 hits -- 11 were singles -- in the series and the Pirates were hitless in 10 at-bats with runners in scoring position.

One player had multiple hits in each game -- Nick Gonzales had three of the club's five hits on Friday, Spencer Horwitz had both hits on Saturday and Tommy Pham had two of the five hits on Sunday.

Skenes struck out 10 during five shutout innings before leaving a scoreless game on Sunday. He did not factor into the decision.

Skenes, who was named to the National League All-Star team for the second straight season, is keeping a positive outlook. This, despite the Pirates being shut out for the fourth time with him on the mound and the 13th time overall.

"It's been a learning experience all-around," Skenes told reporters. "The way I'm kind of thinking of it, we're however many games under .500 right now. It's only a lost season, it's only a failure of a season if you make it that way.

"I'm making sure we're learning from it and getting better through it, even if it's not showing right now."

The Pirates will send left-hander Andrew Heaney (4-7, 4.16 ERA) to the mound on Monday.

Heaney turned in a stellar effort on June 30 when he threw 6 2/3 scoreless innings during a 7-0 rout of the St. Louis Cardinals. He gave up three hits and one walk with seven strikeouts.

Heaney, 34, is 3-0 with a 1.88 ERA in five career starts against Kansas City. Mark Canha is 7-for-22 with two homers and three doubles against Heaney.

Left-hander Noah Cameron (2-4, 2.56) will start for Kansas City.

Cameron is 0-3 with a 3.82 ERA over his last six outings since beating the Cincinnati Reds on May 28.

The 25-year-old will be facing the Pirates for the first time.