The Royals were eliminated from postseason contention in a 6-0 loss to the Mariners on Wednesday night. The Royals’ loss coupled with Cleveland’s win ended their chances. The Indians have 88 wins and are leading the race for the second Wild Card spot in the American League. The Royals, with 83 wins, have just four games left.

“I think we’ve made a lot of progress as an organization,” manager Ned Yost said. “It was a giant step forward for us, and it was a step we definitely needed to take this year.”

The Royals at 83-75 are assured of its first winning season in a decade, and one more win will give the Royals their best record since they finished 84-78 in 1993.

“We’ve had a real good second half,” Billy Butler said. “We have one more series and we get to build on this for next year. We had a good run, and the guys in here played hard.”

Before Wednesday’s game, general manager Dayton Moore said he would like Yost back to manage the ball club in 2014.  Moore has one more year left on his contract.  That could make the situation sticky for Yost, unless he is comfortable with signing just a one-year deal.  It is unlikely Yost would be signed to a contract longer than Moore’s.