CHICAGO -- The Royals finished off July by sweeping the White Sox with Wednesday¡¯ 10-3 win at Guaranteed Rate Field, finishing the season series against Chicago with a 12-1 record by winning all four series, sweeping three of them.

Kansas City¡¯s playoff aspirations have been there from the start of 2024, but the goal has narrowed and come into more focus because of this team¡¯s play through two-thirds of the season, during which the Royals are 60-49 and tied for second with the Twins both in the American League Central and for the second AL Wild Card spot.

With the Trade Deadline passed, this is the team the Royals will rely on in hopes of bringing October baseball back to Kansas City for the first time since 2015.

And they feel pretty good about their chances.

¡°We want to win every game, but winning three here is huge,¡± starter Brady Singer said. ¡°Obviously in a tough race in this division and the Wild Card. We¡¯re just going to keep trying to put together wins and take it day by day.¡±

Singer delivered his third consecutive start of seven innings, allowing three runs on Wednesday. All of those runs came in the second inning, but Singer got a big shutdown inning in the third after the Royals retook the lead in the top of the frame and settled down after that. He retired 15 of the final 17 batters he faced and didn¡¯t allow another run.

¡°Don¡¯t do it again,¡± Singer said of his mindset after the three-run second inning. ¡°They gave me three runs there in the first, and in the second, I gave up three. They came back and helped me out.

¡°... I think I lost the sinker a little bit, wasn¡¯t getting the movement that I usually get on it. So just tried to battle it out a little bit and make good pitches.¡±

Reliever Lucas Erceg made his Royals debut in the eighth inning and showed why the Royals acquired him at the Deadline, blowing 99 mph past Nicky Lopez and dotting 100 mph on the black to strike out Miguel Vargas at the top of the White Sox order.

¡°Wow. Nasty,¡± catcher Salvador Perez said. ¡°[Owner John Sherman] and [general manager] J.J. [Picollo] did a pretty good job trying to make the team better. Everyone knows that it¡¯s our goal to try and make it to the playoffs and try to win everything.¡±

Perez said he continues to remind his teammates of that goal and to ¡°keep playing hard through 162 games.¡± It¡¯s not hard for them to follow the Royals captain¡¯s advice, especially as he continues to lead this team both behind the plate and at the plate.

Playing in his 1,500th career game Wednesday, Perez went 3-for-4 with a walk and two RBIs. His single in the third inning was the 200th go-ahead RBI of his career, second in franchise history only to George Brett¡¯s 444.

The Royals are the only team in the Majors to have three hitters with 70 or more RBIs. Perez has 73 after Wednesday, and Vinnie Pasquantino reached the mark with his RBI single in the first inning and added two more with his two-run homer in the ninth.

And then there¡¯s Bobby Witt Jr., who has 76 RBIs and extended his hit streak to 13 games on Wednesday. He also walked twice, stole a bag and scored three runs. ¡°On fire¡± might not be a good enough term to describe Witt¡¯s play in July: He finished with a .489/.520/.833 this month, and that .489 average was not only the best in any month in Royals history, but the 13th-best in any month in all of baseball since 1906 (min. 90 at-bats).

Of the 23 games Witt played this month, he was held hitless in one of them.

¡°That¡¯s why they are the heart of the order,¡± manager Matt Quatraro said. ¡°That¡¯s what we need from them, and they know that. They¡¯re going to have their ups and downs like anybody else, but when they¡¯re driving in runs and getting on base, we¡¯re a deep lineup.¡±

The Royals racked up 16 hits against the White Sox on Wednesday. Freddy Fermin had a career-high four hits, including a two-run homer and another RBI single in the Royals¡¯ four-run ninth inning.

¡°When Quatraro says, ¡®Hey Freddy, you¡¯re going to play, so be ready,¡¯ I just want to help the team win games,¡± Fermin said. ¡°... The season¡¯s in the second half, so we¡¯ve got to do our job. Keep winning.¡±