KANSAS CITY -- It had been a long 25 innings since the Royals last scored a run by the time the fourth inning rolled around Monday night.

So when Vinnie Pasquantino launched a game-tying homer and Salvador Perez blasted the go-ahead shot on the very next pitch, the dugout got “pretty rowdy,” Royals starter Cole Ragans said.

Two pitches, two swings and much-needed momentum back on their side.

Then Ragans made sure that momentum would not be relinquished in the Royals’ 4-1 series-opening win over the Marlins at Kauffman Stadium.

The Royals have been reeling, returning home Monday after a 2-7 road trip through Los Angeles, Oakland and Texas, the latter of which handed Kansas City its first sweep of the year. A tough two-week stretch since mid-June saw the Royals lose 11 of their last 14 and their hold on the final Wild Card spot, now sitting a half-game behind Boston. They’re third in the American League Central standings, a game behind the Twins and nine behind the first-place Guardians.

“I think we were pretty realistic about it,” Pasquantino said. “We sucked on the road trip. Not much more to say about it other than we sucked. None of us were exactly thrilled with how it went. We’ve been harping on it all year: Day by day.”

The Royals used that mentality to reset when they returned to Kauffman Stadium, where they are now 26-14 this year.

“The success we’ve had early this season and throughout the month of May, there’s a reason for that,” outfielder Hunter Renfroe said after homering Monday. “This is a special team. This is a very talented team. …You get back here, we’re going to see what we’re made of.”

On Monday, with their ace on the mound, the Royals looked like themselves again. Ragans shut the Marlins down for six innings, allowing one run on four hits with three walks and 11 strikeouts. The Royals’ bullpen followed with three hitless innings, and the pitching staff overall struck out 15 Marlins on Monday.

Interim manager Paul Hoover said he walked by Ragans on the plane ride home Sunday afternoon and said: “We’ll be fine. We’ve got our stopper going tomorrow.”

“That’s what we expect,” Hoover continued Monday. “We expect him to be able to do that and keep us in the game.”

While he needed 108 pitches to get through six innings, Ragans registered a career-high 26 whiffs on Monday, surpassing his previous high of 22 done twice (June 9, 2024, and Sept. 4, 2023). The Marlins whiffed 26 times on 53 pitches -- a whopping 49% of the time.

“I’m just trying to win,” Ragans said. “That’s our biggest thing: Win. If I get a lot of swing-and-miss, a lot of whiffs, that’s pretty cool. But at the end of the day, it’s all about winning, that’s all I want to do.”

On Ragans’ 108th pitch of the night and his eighth pitch to Nick Gordon in the sixth inning, he got Gordon to swing and miss on a slider to secure Ragans’ 11th quality start of the year. In eight starts since May 17, Ragans has posted a 1.84 ERA.

The Royals’ offense finally backed their starter up with a three-run fourth inning and Renfroe’s solo homer in the sixth.

The road trip was clearly frustrating, especially the way it ended with a sweep and scoring just two runs against Texas. There were some changes to the roster made Monday by reinstating Michael Massey from the injured list, optioning Nelson Velázquez to Triple-A Omaha and selecting third baseman CJ Alexander from Triple-A, although the latter move was more of a response to losing infielder/outfielder Adam Frazier (right thumb sprain) to the 10-day IL.

But panic about where the Royals now stand -- which is still six games over .500 at 43-37 -- did not percolate throughout the clubhouse, dugout and front office Monday.

General manager J.J. Picollo pointed out conversations he had with veteran players that told him the clubhouse was in a good spot -- mainly because those conversations didn’t revolve around the current skid.

“If a team’s in a panic, they’re going to talk about it a lot, amongst themselves and about the struggles,” Picollo said pregame Monday. “But none of that is going on. … This is where we’ll get tested. Good teams get knocked down, but really good teams get back up. That’s where the leadership will play a factor.

“We’ll get back up, and hopefully this is a thing we’re not talking about much longer.”