KANSAS CITY -- In the history of the Kansas City Royals, only four pitchers had ever recorded a 200-strikeout season before Cole Ragans took the mound Friday night.

After three strikeouts against the Twins, Ragans became the fifth -- the first since Zack Greinke in 2009 and the first left-handed pitcher to achieve the mark.

Ragans finished his night with seven strikeouts, giving him 204 this year that ranks second behind Detroit’s Tarik Skubal in the American League.

What was most important to Ragans on Friday, though, was those strikeouts leading to the Royals’ 5-0 series-opening win over the Twins at Kauffman Stadium, with Ragans tossing six strong scoreless innings.

“I play to win, but it’s always cool to reach a milestone like that,” Ragans said. “I don’t feel like it happens that often. Super cool, but just glad it came in a win, especially in a big series.”

The victory meant the Royals overtook the Twins for second place in the American League Central, 4 1/2 games behind the Guardians -- who defeated the Dodgers, 3-1, on Friday night -- and the second AL Wild Card spot, giving Kansas City a five-game lead for a playoff spot.

As the Royals embark on their final 20 games of the regular season, pushing to make the playoffs for the first time since 2015, they wouldn’t be where they are without Ragans. In the year-plus since the Royals traded for him halfway through the 2023 season, the 26-year-old has grown into the team’s ace, a core piece of their present and their future.

Ragans has made a career-high 29 starts and thrown a career-high 167 1/3 innings in his first full season as a Royal. His 3.33 ERA ranks ninth-best in the AL.

“It’s a joy getting to be a part of this team,” Ragans said. “I’m super blessed to be a part of this. I’m looking forward to what the future holds. We’re not done.”

And now his 200-plus strikeout season has made history. The other four Royals who have recorded 200 strikeouts in a single season are Greinke (242 in ‘09), Kevin Appier (207 in 1996), Dennis Leonard (244 in '77) and Bob Johnson (206 in '70).

“It speaks to a lot of things,” manager Matt Quatraro said. “There’s taking the ball every fifth day. Your stuff has to be good. You have to throw strikes. You have to be competitive. And you have to have that mentality that you can go out and challenge people in the zone. He does that.

“... He’s leading the way with the staff.”

Ragans’ first pitch on Friday night was an 89 mph fastball for a called strike, the low velocity immediately raising concerns until you realized he had slipped on the mound.

“I think I threw the ball before my front foot hit the ground,” Ragans said.

Ragans’ next pitch was back up to 95 mph, which Carlos Santana popped up to first base. Ragans struck out two in the second inning with curveballs that froze both Austin Martin and Christian Vázquez at the top of the zone. The hammer was a big pitch for Ragans on Friday.

“It’s the fourth time I’ve faced them, so you got to get creative a little bit,” Ragans said. “I had a good feel, so trying to throw it for a strike. I’d been missing up with some heaters, so just trying to tunnel off of it, get it in the zone, get it close, and see if I can get not necessarily a strikeout but just weak contact and off-balance swings.”

The 200th punchout came in the top of the third inning when Royce Lewis swung through a changeup.

Immediately after, Tommy Pham’s RBI double gave the Royals a lead. Then Pham helped Ragans record a shutdown inning in the fourth with a perfect throw to Bobby Witt Jr., whose relay throw nabbed Kyle Farmer at the plate for the third out.

Michael Massey, who recorded a three-hit night against Twins starter Zebby Matthews, added a solo homer in the fourth. And in his first game back from the injured list, Hunter Renfroe knocked in two runs with a single in the fifth inning as part of a two-hit night for the right fielder.

Ragans did the rest. The Royals’ southpaw worked his way around deeper counts later on in the outing to keep the Twins quiet. That set the tone for the bullpen tossing three perfect innings at the back end.

“You look back on a lot of great pitchers, a lot of them got to 200 strikeouts,” Renfroe said. “Some of them 300 strikeouts. But I think more prevalent is that [Ragans has] pitched the whole season. … That’s huge for us.”