KANSAS CITY -- The Royals have been searching for something -- anything -- good the last few days, a big hit or a break to go their way.

Tommy Pham delivered with one swing.

A three-run homer as part of a four-run fourth inning put the Royals on track for a 4-1 win over the Guardians on Wednesday night, snapping a seven-game skid and ending the Royals¡¯ series with the American League Central-leading Guardians on a better note than the past week.

It¡¯s been a rough week, with the Royals not only suffering their longest losing streak of the year, but also losing first baseman Vinnie Pasquantino for what will likely be the rest of the regular season with a broken right thumb.

There¡¯s a reason the Royals have the word ¡°TODAY¡± printed on shirts, emphasizing a one-day-at-a-time approach -- manager Matt Quatraro¡¯s motto that has trickled to every part of the clubhouse.

That approach hasn¡¯t changed, but seven losses in a row isn¡¯t what the Royals wanted, especially in the middle of this stretch of 20 games against teams who currently hold a playoff spot. The Royals are 5-9 so far in that gauntlet but have a firm grip on their own playoff spot. Despite trailing Cleveland by 4 1/2 games, Kansas City is tied for second with the Twins (who own the head-to-head tiebreaker) in the division, and the Royals have a 5 1/2-game lead as the third Wild Card team.

¡°Nobody wants to lose, right?¡± Quatraro said. ¡°And when you string a whole week of games together where you don¡¯t win any of them, it wears on you. Mentally, physically, it makes it tougher to believe in yourself. However, it had to happen, whether it was a blowout or close game, it was good to get a win because that¡¯s what we¡¯re trying to do here all year.¡±

It ended up being a game in which the Royals collected all their runs in one inning and relied on good pitching, including starter Seth Lugo¡¯s seven strong innings, and defense to get them through the rest.

In one inning, the Royals ended their six-game streak of scoring three runs or fewer. Michael Massey snapped an 0-for-17 skid with an RBI single that snuck through up the middle to get the Royals on the board and tie the game at 1.

With two on base and two outs, Pham launched a Statcast-projected 423-foot moonshot over the Sonic signage in left-center field. It was his eighth home run of the year and first as a Royal since they acquired him over the weekend through waivers.

¡°That was about as electric as it could get,¡± reliever Lucas Erceg said after picking up his ninth save of the year. ¡°... At that point, you could sense the energy flip a little bit.¡±

In the fifth inning, third baseman Paul DeJong made a slick defensive play on Daniel Schneemann¡¯s ball that looked like it was headed through the left side of the infield. DeJong, a shortstop by trade, gobbled it up and recorded the out at first to help Lugo to a clean shutdown inning.

Lugo allowed just one run in seven innings Wednesday night, allowing six hits, walking one and striking out four. It was exactly what the Royals needed from one of their best starters this year, who lowered his season ERA to 3.05 and picked up his career-best 15th win of the season.

¡°It was one of those games that I felt like it was up to me to really put up a good start,¡± Lugo said. ¡°I knew how important this one was. But I didn¡¯t do anything different, really. Just [had] that mindset that we were going to win tonight.¡±

Lugo¡¯s brilliance allowed the Royals to finally break through for some runs. Since Kansas City acquired Pham, he¡¯s been a good fit at the top of the lineup, providing professional at-bats to set the tone for Bobby Witt Jr., despite the team¡¯s overall offensive struggles.

Over the seven-game slide, the Royals were outscored 39-17 and batted .166 as a team, including .162 with runners in scoring position.

So there was some cathartic relief when Pham, who has been trying to barrel balls pull-side more, rocketed the middle-middle fastball from Guardians starter Ben Lively to left-center field.

¡°Just seems like we¡¯ve had some chances and we just couldn¡¯t come through with the big hit until tonight,¡± Pham said. ¡°With where we¡¯re at in the race, and with these teams coming up that we have to play, we need as many wins as possible.¡±