KANSAS CITY (Interstat) — Joey Cantillo and four relievers combined on a four-hitter, Chase DeLauter delivered a tiebreaking two-run single in the fifth inning and the Cleveland Guardians beat the Kansas City Royals 3-1 on Wednesday night at Kauffman Stadium, snapping their three-game losing streak and ending the Royals’ five-game winning streak.

Kansas City starter Cole Ragans departed after three scoreless innings because of left triceps and elbow soreness, a blow for a team that had won five consecutive games entering the night. Cantillo (2-1) worked five innings, allowing one run on three hits and three walks while striking out one. He was followed by Matt Festa, Erik Sabrowski and Hunter Gaddis, who combined for three hitless innings, before Cade Smith earned his ninth save in 11 chances by working around a one-out single in the ninth.

The Guardians improved to 19-19, while the Royals fell to 17-20. Cleveland had lost the first two games of this four-game series by scores of 5-3 and 6-2, and had dropped three straight overall. The victory also halted Kansas City’s longest winning run of the season.

Cantillo had struggled in his previous outing against the Athletics on May 1, allowing four runs in four innings, and took a loss on April 25 against Toronto. But he settled in Wednesday after a shaky start. The Royals struck first in the third inning. Maikel Garcia led off with a single, and after Bobby Witt Jr. grounded into a force out, Lane Thomas walked to put runners at first and second. Salvador Perez lifted a sacrifice fly to right field, scoring Witt and giving Kansas City a 1-0 lead.

Cleveland answered immediately in the top of the fifth against Luinder Avila, who had entered in relief of Ragans. Avila walked Austin Hedges leading off, and Petey Halpin followed with a sharp single to right field, putting runners at the corners. DeLauter then grounded a single to left field, scoring both Hedges and Halpin to give Cleveland a 2-1 lead. DeLauter finished the game with two hits in four at-bats and two RBIs. He also doubled in the third inning but was left stranded.

The Guardians added an insurance run in the eighth inning against Alex Lange. José Ramírez drew a leadoff walk, moved to third on a fly out by Kyle Manzardo and scored on a groundout by David Fry. That made it 3-1, and the bullpen made the lead stand.

Avila (0-2) took the loss, allowing two runs on two hits and a walk over 1 1/3 innings. He struck out none. The Royals bullpen behind him, including John Schreiber, Alex Lange and Eric Cerantola, combined to work 4 2/3 innings of one-run ball, but the offense could not generate the big hit after the third inning.

Cantillo’s outing featured several key defensive plays. In the first inning, after Garcia singled, Witt grounded into a 5-4-3 double play started by third baseman Ramírez, erasing the threat. Cantillo also benefited from a caught stealing in the third when Lane Thomas was thrown out by catcher Hedges after the sacrifice fly, ending the inning.

Cleveland’s relief corps continued its effective work. Festa struck out two in a perfect sixth inning. Sabrowski worked 1 1/3 hitless innings, striking out two, including a pair of strikeouts in the seventh after a walk to Starling Marte. Gaddis recorded two outs in the eighth, getting a groundout and then striking out Nick Loftin to preserve the lead. Smith then entered for the ninth and struck out Salvador Perez before allowing a single to Vinnie Pasquantino. He struck out Kyle Isbel on a called third strike after a challenge by the Guardians upheld the call. Isaac Collins then struck out swinging after a second challenge overturned the initial call, ending the game.

The Royals managed only four hits: two singles by Garcia and one each by Marte and Pasquantino. They left six runners on base and did not hit a home run. The Guardians collected six hits, with DeLauter, Angel Martínez, Halpin, Hedges, Brayan Rocchio and Daniel Schneemann each contributing one. Martínez walked twice and scored once.

The game was played in 2 hours, 49 minutes before an announced crowd of 13,039 at Kauffman Stadium. Cleveland had lost its previous two games in Kansas City and three overall, while the Royals had not lost since April 30 before Wednesday.

In his previous two starts, Cantillo allowed a combined seven earned runs over nine innings. His five-inning, one-run effort Wednesday marked a bounce back. He threw 87 pitches, 47 for strikes. Ragans, who entered with a 2-2 record and a 2.86 ERA, threw 52 pitches over three innings, allowing one hit and striking out four before exiting.

The series concludes Thursday afternoon at Kauffman Stadium. The Guardians then return home to face the Minnesota Twins for a three-game series starting Friday. The Royals host the Detroit Tigers for a weekend series beginning Friday.

Interstat’s game simulator had projected a final score of Kansas City 7, Cleveland 4. Interstat’s ELO system had projected Kansas City with a 50.30 percent probability to win. Kansas City was installed as a pregame favorite with a spread of minus-1.5. The total score of 4 went over the over/under line of 8.