KANSAS CITY, Mo. _ The secondary pitches in Kelvin Herrera's repertoire have prompted an uneven first year as the Royals' closer. So on Thursday, as the reigning American League batting champion stood in the right-handed box at Kauffman Stadium, Herrera returned to the top weapon in his arsenal.
A 95-mph fastball.
Astros second baseman Jose Altuve was ready.
Altuve re-directed the pitch into the center-field seats, a ninth-inning blast to spark the Astros' 6-1 victory in the series finale in front of 32,747 fans at Kauffman Stadium.
The Royals (26-33) finished the homestand 5-5.
After entering in a tie game, Herrera was credited with his second loss after allowing four runs. His earned run average ballooned to 5.55 after three straight seasons holding it under 3.00
The ninth-inning blowout was preceded by a dazzling starting outing. Well, two of them.
Houston starter Lance McCullers Jr., did not allow a hit until Lorenzo Cain tripled in the seventh inning, and Royals right-hander Jason Hammel turned in unquestionably his top outing in a Royals uniform. Each starter lasted seven innings, allowing just one run.
Herrera couldn't continue the trend. He opened the ninth by walking outfielder Josh Reddick on four pitches, providing Altuve some company on his trot around the bases in the next at-bat. Cleanup hitter Carlos Correra tripled as the next hitter.
The Royals had a chance to win their third straight, and had they done so it would have been for the first time since mid-May. Despite the effort from Hammel.
The pitchers traded five zeroes before a balk blemished the Kauffman Stadium scoreboard. Hammel attempted to fire a pickoff move to first base but fumbled the ball in his glove on the exchange. The balk was called immediately, and former Royal Nori Aoki trotted home for game's the first run.
It lingered as the only mishap on Hammel's evening. He lasted seven innings and allowed only four base runners. It matched Hammel's longest outing in his first season with the Royals.
After the Royals pulled even in the seventh to pull Hammel out of target for the loss, right-hander Joakim Soria struck out all three batters he faced.
McCullers was even better. A day after Houston ace Dallas Keuchel was scratched from his start, the Royals couldn't escape McCullers on Thursday.
He took a no-hitter into the seventh before Cain sent a ball into the left-center-field gap that he turned into a one-out triple in the seventh. After McCullers used his curveball to entice a third-strike swing from Eric Hosmer, Mike Moustakas ripped a two-out single through the right side of the infield to tie the game at 1.
Even after laboring through his seventh inning, McCullers finished with just 91 pitches. He allowed only two hits and two walks. He struck out eight, most of them with his defining quickly-dropping curveball, a pitch in his repertoire he throws nearly half of the time.
The Astros, the proprietors of baseball's best record and its top offense arrived in Kansas City with a double-digit winning streak and an equally large lead in their division.
They depart Kansas City without the extended winning streak but still holding a comfortable margin as baseball's best club.
The Royals, who actually clinched the season series against the Astros on Wednesday, busted out for 16 runs over the previous two wins. The bats quieted Thursday.
Royals catcher Salvador Perez was held out of the starting lineup with a mild thumb sprain. Royals manager Ned Yost said he expected Perez to return to the lineup Friday, when the team opens a nine-game road trip with a three-game series in San Diego.
