BALTIMORE (AP) — Bobby Witt Jr. beat an infield single to drive in the go-ahead run and send the Kansas City Royals to an AL Division Series with a 2-1 victory over the Baltimore Orioles on Wednesday for a two-game sweep of their Wild Card Series.

With two outs and runners on the corners in the sixth inning, Witt grounded to the edge of the sand behind second base, where Jordan Westburg made a diving stop and threw to first base. Witt was already there after zooming 30 meters in 4.14 seconds, allowing Kyle Isbel to score from third.

“I just had to try to run,” Witt said.

It was the second straight game in which the AL batting champion scored the decisive hit. Witt’s RBI single in Tuesday’s series opener accounted for the lone run in a 1-0 victory.

“You never know when this opportunity will ever come along, so you have to make the most of it while you have it,” Witt said. “That’s the fun of this game. This is why we do it, these situations here.”

Kansas City, which endured two seven-game losing streaks in the final month of the season, advanced to play the AL East champion New York Yankees. Game 1 is Saturday in the Bronx.

Cedric Mullins homered for the Orioles, who fell to 0-5 during two quick playoff runs the past two years. Baltimore has canceled its final 10 postseason games.

The new Royals lost 106 games last season but used a 30-win improvement to return to October for the first time since winning the 2015 World Series.

Second baseman Michael Massey, who led off the game with a double and scored on a single by Vinnie Pasquantino, said the use of veterans with playoff experience like Tommy Pham, Yuli Gurriel, Michael Wacha and Will Smith made it possible.

“They’ve been there before, they’ve done it, so I think it helped a lot of guys,” Massey said. “It’s helped us, and I certainly have, to be around those guys and just watch them more than anything and see how they go about their business. I think that’s helped us balance to stay.”

The Royals stranded twelve runners on base and once again pulled through a close game with a razor-thin margin of error thanks to masterful management from Matt Quatraro, himself a postseason rookie like Witt, Game 1 winner Cole Ragans and so many others.

Quatraro got starter Seth Lugo to get an out after loading the bases with no one out in the fifth before setting up bullpen roulette, starting with winning pitcher Angel Zerpa, who got KC out of that jam and then got the first out of the sixth. John Schreiber got three more outs, Sam Long two, Kris Bubic three and Lucas Erceg the final three, earning his second save of the series.

“It’s so impressive that they believe in themselves and trust their stuff and they come after some of the best hitters in the world,” Quatraro said.

Cionel Pérez took responsibility for the defeat.

The Orioles were swept for the second year in a row in their only playoff series, this time going 1 for 13 with runners in scoring position and 5 for 32 combined. They face numerous questions this offseason, from the future of manager Brandon Hyde to the possibility of losing incoming free-agent starter Corbin Burnes.

“Especially when you lose like that, there’s frustration, anger and disappointment because you felt like in those few games there were opportunities to change the score and it didn’t happen,” Hyde said.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Orioles: LF Colton Cowser broke his left hand when it was hit by the ball while swinging out in the fifth. He left after six innings.

NEXT

The Royals face Yankees ace Gerrit Cole in the opener of their ALDS, with every starter except Ragans or Lugo rested and ready to go. Wacha was in line to start Game 3 against Baltimore.

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AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/MLB