Four straight for Kansas City, and the lineup is holding together

The Royals have won four in a row now, and the thing worth noting is that the roster doing it actually resembles a baseball team. Maikel Garcia is back at third, Vinnie Pasquantino is back at first, and Kansas City is scoring 4.2 runs a game over the last 10 — up nearly a run from the stretch before that. For most of this summer, the lineup was held together with whoever was available. That's no longer quite true.

Garcia missed nearly two months, and his return gives the infield a different feel — a contact bat with some plate discipline that the lineup was visibly missing through July. Pasquantino's presence at first stabilizes the left side of the order. Neither is doing anything spectacular, but that's not the point. The point is that Bobby Witt Jr. is no longer the only professional hitter in the building on a given night.

The pitching is still a managed crisis — eleven players on the IL, the rotation running on Wacha, Cameron, and Lugo, Mason Black being used at roughly double his normal rate. But the staff is allowing 4.0 runs a game over the last 10, down from 4.9 before that, and Nate Pearson continues to be the best thing the front office did at the deadline, sitting at a 1.00 ERA through nine appearances.

None of this changes the standings. Kansas City is 39 games from done and seven back of the last wild card. But four straight is four straight, and for the first time since late July, the wins are coming with a full lineup. Worth noting.