KANSAS CITY, Mo. (Interstat) — Stephen Kolek pitched 7 1/3 shutout innings and Maikel Garcia drove in three runs as the Kansas City Royals blanked the Houston Astros 4-0 on Sunday afternoon at Kauffman Stadium.

The Royals, who had dropped the first two games of the series by scores of 8-7 and 10-8, avoided a sweep and improved to 29-43. Houston fell to 33-40.

Kolek (4-1) allowed five hits, all singles, and struck out four without a walk. He retired 10 consecutive batters from the second through the fifth innings and faced only one batter over the minimum after the third. The right-hander lowered his ERA to 2.87 over 62 innings this season, having won his previous two starts against Texas on June 9 and at Cincinnati on June 3.

Spencer Arrighetti (7-2) took the loss after permitting four runs on eight hits over six innings. He struck out seven but was hurt by the Royals’ three-run third inning.

Kansas City struck first in the bottom of the first. Bobby Witt Jr. singled, stole second base for his 25th theft of the season, and scored on Garcia’s single to left field for a 1-0 lead.

The decisive inning came in the third. Isaac Collins drew a leadoff walk. Carter Jensen singled to center, sending Collins to third. After Witt popped out, Jac Caglianone singled to right to plate Collins, with Jensen moving to second. Garcia then doubled down the left-field line, scoring both Jensen and Caglianone and giving the Royals a 4-0 advantage. Garcia’s double was his 16th of the season.

Garcia finished 3 for 4 with three RBIs. Witt went 2 for 4 with a stolen base. Kameron Misner added two hits in three at-bats.

Houston managed only five hits. Brice Matthews led off the third with a double, his fifth, but was left stranded. The Astros mounted their best threat in the seventh after Yordan Alvarez and Christian Walker opened with singles off Kolek. But Joey Loperfido flied out, and Cam Smith grounded into a double play started by Kolek, who fielded the ball and threw to second before Michael Massey relayed to first to end the inning.

The Astros put two more runners on in the eighth against Royals reliever Steven Cruz. Matthews walked and Raynel Delgado singled, but Cruz struck out pinch-hitter Taylor Trammell and Jeremy Peña grounded out. Cruz pitched two-thirds of an inning. Daniel Lynch IV worked a perfect ninth with one strikeout.

Kolek left after allowing a two-out single to Delgado in the eighth. He threw 87 pitches, 62 for strikes.

For Houston, relievers Alimber Santa and Nate Pearson each threw a scoreless inning. Santa gave up one hit in the seventh, and Pearson struck out two in the eighth.

The game lasted 2 hours, 19 minutes in front of an announced crowd of 23,730.

Houston’s offense, which had scored 18 runs over the previous two games, was held scoreless for the first time since a 5-0 loss to on June 7. The Astros collected only five hits, with Matthews going 1 for 2 with a walk. Alvarez and Walker each went 1 for 4. Collin Price, the Houston catcher, struck out twice.

Kansas City’s defense turned two double plays, including a key one in the seventh that snuffed the Astros’ last real scoring chance. The Royals also benefited from a double play started by center fielder Kameron Misner in the second inning when he caught a fly ball and threw to first to double off a runner.

The Astros next host the Detroit Tigers on Monday for a three-game series. The Royals travel to Washington to face the Nationals on Monday.

The Interstat game simulator had projected a final score of Houston Astros 5, Kansas City Royals 4. Houston had been installed as a pregame favorite with a spread of minus-1.5. The total score of 4 went over the over/under line of 8.5.