KANSAS CITY -- The Royals are rolling.

And they have no intentions of slowing down.

Wasting no time in helping their chances at a seventh consecutive win on Thursday afternoon, the Royals plated nine runs in the bottom of the first inning in their eventual 13-3 series-finale victory over the Astros at Kauffman Stadium.

That win secured a series sweep over the Astros. A perfect 7-0 homestand. And the Royals¡¯ title as the hottest team in baseball right now.

¡°What¡¯s up, fans? You like that?" first baseman Vinnie Pasquantino said. ¡°¡­Because we like that. We¡¯re not going to win every single game every single time, but we¡¯re going to give it a shot. This was a really special series.¡±

The Royals jumped out to a nine-run lead in the bottom of the first inning Thursday, registering 11 hits, sending 15 batters to the plate and knocking Astros starter Hunter Brown out of the game after recording just two outs. Brown became the first pitcher in AL/NL history to allow 11-plus hits in less than one inning pitched.

With 11 hits in the first inning, the Royals tied a franchise record done twice previously on Aug. 23, 2006, against Cleveland and Aug. 2, 1986, against Boston. Brown did not fool the Royals, who averaged a 95.7 mph exit velocity against him. Four of the first five batters reached against him on 100 mph-plus hits. Brown filled up the zone with hittable pitches -- and the Royals did not miss.

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¡°That first inning was sick,¡± Pasquantino said. ¡°That¡¯s about it. It was about as good as it gets for us.¡±

Maikel Garcia, Bobby Witt Jr. and Pasquantino were all 2-for-2 in the inning. Pasquantino continued his RBI production from Wednesday night with two more on his first single of the first inning, and he added another on his double in the sixth, marking his eighth RBI in his last nine plate appearances.

¡°They had a really good plan, they stuck with it,¡± manager Matt Quatraro said. ¡°You¡¯re always going to need some luck in those situations to string that many hits together in one inning, but they put good at-bats together.¡±

Every Royals starting position player recorded at least one hit Thursday. Witt flashed all his tools during a 4-for-5 day in which he drove in five runs, scored four, hit two home runs and stole a base -- while also making an incredible circus play to end the top of the fourth inning, recording a putout while second baseman Nick Loftin hurdled Witt trying to get out of the way.

¡°It¡¯s been a blast,¡± Witt said. ¡°It¡¯s awesome. But we¡¯ve got to keep doing it. Keep stacking the wins, keep stacking the days and keep enjoying it.¡±

The Royals, who at 9-4 have their best 13-game start since 2016 (9-4), have the fifth-best winning percentage in baseball right now and are a half-game behind the Guardians in the American League Central standings. Kansas City¡¯s run differential at plus-39 is the best in baseball. It outscored Houston 28-8 this series. The rotation¡¯s 1.96 ERA this year -- lowered Thursday with Brady Singer allowing one run in five innings -- is the second lowest in baseball. And while the bullpen snapped its 19 1/3-inning scoreless streak Thursday, the unit has settled in and has come up in big moments for the Royals so far.

They¡¯re winning in a variety of ways. The biggest difference? They believe they can win in a variety of ways.

¡°This group¡¯s just clicking,¡± Singer said. ¡°It¡¯s a really fun environment. A lot of really good players and good people, too. They all expect to win when they walk in the door. That¡¯s part of this team: Expect to win.¡±

The vibes are undoubtedly high right now -- how could they not be for a team playing well and trying to get as far away as possible from its 106-loss 2023 season?

But the Royals are aware of how quickly things can change.

¡°We¡¯ve been on the other side, where it was seven [losses] in a row,¡± Pasquatino said.

So they¡¯re taking things one game at a time, knowing 13 games is only the beginning of a long season.

¡°We¡¯ve had this feeling a few times before,¡± Pasquantino said. ¡°We¡¯ve never been able to sustain it, and we¡¯re sustaining it right now. ¡­ We¡¯ve got to try to ride the wave as long as we can and try to stay in good mental spirits and keep it going.

¡°We¡¯re not done yet. We¡¯re 13 games in and nowhere near the end. For us, it¡¯s just taking it day by day.¡±