WASHINGTON -- All the talk over the last week was about the Royals’ scoreless streak as the offense worked through a funk at the plate.

That skid has been snapped. So let’s talk about another scoreless streak.

It’s much more encouraging. In fact, it’s historic.

With another shutout in their 3-0 series-clinching win over the Nationals on Wednesday at Nationals Park, the Royals have now pitched 26 consecutive scoreless innings dating back to the third inning on Sunday. That sets a new franchise record, breaking a 24-inning scoreless streak done from June 9-12, 1976, and done again on May 17-20, 2015.

It’s that kind of pitching the Royals will need come October, which they’re inching closer and closer to after Wednesday’s victory.

“That’s remarkable, regardless of the time of year, but especially in September, when these guys are all running on fumes,” manager Matt Quatraro said.

Despite a planned short start for Michael Lorenzen, the Royals (84-74) shut out the Nationals for the second consecutive game and kept a hold on their second American League Wild Card spot, tied with the Tigers, with whom the Royals hold the head-to-head tiebreaker. Kansas City and Detroit are two games ahead of the Twins, who beat the Marlins on Wednesday, as the first team out of a playoff spot.

The Royals could clinch their first postseason berth since 2015 as early as Friday in Atlanta, which will be no small feat as they might be facing the National League Cy Young favorite Chris Sale following the Braves’ two postponements this week against the Mets with heavy rain in the Atlanta area.

But Atlanta hasn’t officially set their pitching plans, and the Royals are staying focused on their one-day-at-a-time approach. That means focusing on Thursday’s series finale against the Nationals -- while keeping an eye on the other games around the league on the TVs in the visiting clubhouse.

“It’s a new thing for me,” reliever Daniel Lynch IV said of the postseason feeling beginning to permeate the clubhouse. “But like we’ve said all year, it’s just one day at a time, because if we win, that’s all we can really control. I think that’s the mindset.”

Lynch was a huge part of the Royals’ win Wednesday, tossing 2 2/3 scoreless innings against a Nats’ lineup full of lefties while increasing his career-long scoreless streak to 18 2/3 innings since he was recalled on Aug. 26. In that span, Lynch has 21 strikeouts and has allowed just seven hits, including two Wednesday.

“His conviction is better than I’ve ever seen,” Quatraro said. “His slider has been good. It seems, at least from my perspective on the side, he’s getting more swing and miss on that.”

The Royals knew they were going to count Lynch on Wednesday with Lorenzen making his first start back from a hamstring strain that he suffered on Aug. 27. The veteran starter isn’t built up and only threw 28 pitches Wednesday before feeling his left leg fatigue in the third inning and exiting with a trainer. It was a precautionary move, and the Royals already had Lynch warming up in the bullpen.

“I could tell my leg reached its limit, and I didn’t want to push it,” Lorenzen said. “We’re so close to getting to where we want to be, and I feel like the value of me being available for that is more important than me trying to push through something. I could tell I’d reach my limit, and it was hard to make that decision, but I felt like it was the right decision.”

It meant the bullpen was going to take on a lot of innings, but the confidence in that unit is high right now. Relievers have posted a 2.16 ERA in the past 18 games since Sept. 4.

After Lynch on Wednesday, it was Angel Zerpa, John Schreiber, Sam Long and Lucas Erceg who not only kept the Nats scoreless, but also hitless.

“Everybody wants to try to match the energy of whoever threw a zero or whoever is coming in after,” Zerpa said through interpreter Luis Perez after working his fifth consecutive scoreless appearance since being recalled on Sept. 14.

That pitching has kept the Royals in games, and the offense didn’t wait around like Tuesday night for some runs on Wednesday. Michael Massey’s RBI single got Kansas City on the board in the third, and Robbie Grossman’s two-run single in the sixth gave the Royals more runs on Wednesday than they had scored in the past six days combined.

“It takes a lot of pressure off knowing you don’t need to score four or five runs all the time,” Massey said. “... Pitching has been unbelievable all year, and it’s a big identity of our team.”