The Kansas City Royals completed their series sweep of the Tampa Bay Rays on Thursday. Bobby Witt led the way, hitting a two-run home run off of Shane Baz in the fifth inning. Vinnie Pasquantino and the rest of the Royals offense broke the game open from there, running away with the game from there. Witt's homer added on to his stellar stretch during the past month.

While the 8-2 victory is the biggest takeaway for the Royals, Bobby Witt hit multiple milestones. The All-Star shortstop reached 500 games played and 1,000 total bases in his career. His home run also extended his hitting streak to 22 straight games, the longest active streak in Major League Baseball.

Witt is one of the league's young stars, but he downplayed his homer off of Baz, according to MLB.com writer Anne Rodgers.

“Any time you can go over the fence is good,” Witt said about his homer. “Got a fastball and was able to get it up and over. … [Baz] has a good fastball, so we had to be ready for the fastball. And then go from there.”

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Witt and the Royals are on their way back to the top of the American League after a lackluster start to the season. Kansas City found a new arm in Cole Ragan's absence and their hitting is coming around during their last 10 games, in which they are 9-1. The AL Central is turning into a three-team race between the Royals, Cleveland Guardians, and Detroit Tigers.

Their recent stretch is a reminder to the rest of the league what Kansas City is capable of. The team has balance on both sides of the ball with premier talent across the lineup.

After losing to the New York Yankees in the American League Divisional Series last year, fans called the Royals a fluky team that wouldn't be able to replicate the success. Witt, Pasquantino, and the rest of the team are on a mission to prove their doubters wrong and make noise in the postseason again.