Royals get homers from Olivares, Waters and Heasley tosses gem as KC sweeps the Twins

The value in finishing the season strong might not mean much to some fans or pundits, but carrying momentum into the offseason holds significance for the youth-filled Kansas City Royals roster and relatively inexperienced players like outfielders Edward Olivares and Drew Waters and pitcher Jonathan Heasley.

When you don’t have a track record in the major leagues, chances to leave an impression — on coaches, the front office, other teams — shouldn’t be underestimated.

Olivares, Waters and Heasley certainly left their mark on Thursday’s series finale against the Minnesota Twins.

Olivares and Waters each launched home runs while Heasley didn’t give up a hit until the fourth inning — a softly hit infield single — in a 4-1 victory in front of an announced crowd of 12,951 in the finale of a three-game series at Kauffman Stadium Thursday afternoon.

The Royals (61-89) swept the series with the win, their first sweep of a three-game series this season. They also finished 5-4 against the Twins this season in KC.

Moreover, the victory punctuated Royals manager Mike Matheny’s 52nd birthday.

“It’s very important,” Waters said of completing the sweep. “One, it’s Skip’s birthday. So I think it’s a good birthday present. But also, obviously, we want to finish this season strong regardless of where we’re at in the standings. Just show that we can win. I think we showed that this series.”

Olivares, who has played in five games since coming off of the injured list with a quad strain, went 1 for 3 with his first home run in the majors in more than two months.

Waters, who began the summer as a member of the Atlanta Braves organization before a trade brought him to the Royals, also went 1 for 3 and belted a home run.

Royals veteran Salvador Perez (1 for 3, walk) and rookie infielder/outfielder Nate Eaton (1 for 4, double) also drove in runs.

Perez moved into sole possession of eighth place among the club’s all-time leaders for games played with 1,246. He broke a tie with Alcides Escobar and Fred Patek.

Royals rookie infielder Bobby Witt Jr. went 2 for 4 with a double, a stolen base and a run scored.

Heasley finding his footing

Heasley allowed just one run on two hits and two walks in six innings for his seventh quality start of the season. He gave up his lone run in the sixth inning on Nick Gordon’s sacrifice fly.

The runner that scored, Caleb Hamilton, reached on a leadoff walk.

“The thing I’m most frustrated about is that leadoff walk in the sixth,” Heasley said. “It kind of put a damper on it a little bit, personally. It kind of made me frustrated. Just the way I pitched throughout, I felt like I was on the attack the whole way. Then to have that leadoff walk at that point in the game, I was pretty frustrated.”

The right-hander dealt with some shoulder fatigue early in the summer, spent time on the IL and went back to the minors for a brief stint as he worked through issues with his pitching mechanics. A lot of his focus had been on how his foot lands in his pitching delivery.

In his last five starts, Heasley has now gone 3-1. He has allowed one run in his last two starts (12 1/3 innings).

“I feel like I’m getting more comfortable in it, and it’s kind of allowing me to let myself go and get after it a little more,” Heasley said of tweaks he has made to his delivery. “I feel like I can kind of let it go now instead of trying to think about it and trying to hold back just a little bit to make sure it’s perfect. I think the last couple starts, being able to see the results when I do do it right is pretty affirming.”

Matheny lauded Heasley’s start as perhaps his best yet, suggesting that Heasley might have been one play in the field and one scenario-altering walk away from flirting with a no-hitter.

“I thought overall, he just built off of what he did last time,” Matheny said. “Curve ball continues to be really good. The changeup was good. He threw some really sharp, high-riding fastballs with even more vert than we’ve even seen. ... I do believe that there’s something that he has found as they’ve worked at finding that foundation that has allowed him to get through his pitches.”

Royals hand Heasley a lead

Witt and Perez combined to stake Heasley a slim 1-0 lead in the third inning. Witt lined a two-out single up the middle, for his second hit in as many plate appearances.

Then Witt stole second base to put himself in scoring position. Perez then stepped up and muscled a broken-bat single into left field as Witt raced home for the game’s first run.

Through three innings, Witt had already recorded two hits, including a double, a stolen base and a run scored.

The Royals doubled their lead in the fourth when Olivares blistered a ball into the left-field stands for his fourth home run of the season, his first since July 3.

“It’s extremely important to be there,” Olivares said of being back with the club. “I like to compete, and I like to be there and play every day. It’s definitely nice to finish on a good note.”

Waters’ second career home run in the majors, a towering 428-foot drive to right field, made it a three-run Royals advantage after five innings.

Waters said he joked with assistant hitting coach Keoni DeRenne about how far the ball may have traveled, referencing a mammoth blast by Yordan Alvarez that sailed over the stands and off the concrete in right field.

“When I came back in, I was joking with him and was like I think that hit the concrete,” Waters said. “I saw it got over the bullpen, so it was a good poke.”

The Royals final run came in the eighth inning when Eaton’s RBI double drove in fellow rookie Vinnie Pasquantino (1 for 4).

Royals pitchers Collin Snider, Carlos Hernández and Brad Keller combined to hold the Twins without a hit in the final three innings.

Keller pitched a scoreless ninth inning to record his first save in the majors.