It’s been a long time since we’ve had to worry about other teams in the division. Obviously, it is extremely annoying to go on an eight-game winning streak at the same time as the one team ahead of you in the division is going on a nine-game (and counting) winning streak.
But there is more than one way to make it to the playoffs. With three Wild Card slots, the Royals don’t need to beat the Cleveland Guardians in the standings, though that would be nice. The Royals just need to beat a few key other teams in the standings, and they have three chances to do it.