ATLANTA – In many ways, the Royals clinching their postseason spot on Friday night was ideal in terms of timing.

And because they got it done on the third-to-last day of the regular season, it allowed them to make sure their two best rotation arms will be fresh for the postseason.

The Royals stuck with Seth Lugo as their starter in Saturday’s 2-1 walk-off loss to the Braves at Truist Park, but they only had him throw two innings as a final tuneup before October.

And they won’t start Cole Ragans for Sunday’s regular-season finale, instead having the lefty rest up for either Tuesday or Wednesday -- Game 1 or Game 2 of the American League Wild Card Series.

To be clear: These two games do still matter for seeding purposes. The Royals don’t know if they’ll head to Baltimore or Houston next week. They currently hold the No. 6 seed in the AL field, so they would head to Houston and play the No. 3 seed and AL West champion Astros if the season ended now.

• Postseason FAQ: What's next for Royals?

But the Royals (85-76) are only one game behind the Tigers, who also lost Saturday, and hold the tiebreaker over Detroit. So if the Royals win on Sunday and the Tigers lose, the Royals would clinch the No. 5 seed and go to Baltimore to face the No. 4-seed Orioles.

The Royals’ offense Saturday featured several role players the day after clinching, and the Royals only managed one run against Braves starter Reynaldo López, who struck out nine in six innings.

“We’re trying to win,” manager Matt Quatraro said. “... We’ve got to find a way to scratch out a couple of runs there. They have great pitching, and that’s not an easy thing to do, but that’s what we’re going to have to do in the playoffs.”

They were missing shortstop Bobby Witt Jr., who was on the bench for the first time this season. With normal aches and pains that the end of the season brings, Witt and the Royals thought it best for him to take the full day off.

“It’s bittersweet, for sure, because a goal of mine was to play 162,” Witt said. “But I also want to make sure I’m fully ready to go for postseason baseball. That’s something I dreamt about as a kid and getting this opportunity now, I want to be the best version of myself I could possibly be for my team.”

That was the same mentality the team had about Lugo, who should be ready to take the mound next week, too. The right-hander’s last start was Sunday against the Giants, so if he had waited to pitch until the Wild Card Series, it would have been going on nine or 10 days of rest, something Lugo likes to avoid if possible.

“We had the conversation a few weeks ago about too many regular days off or extended starts, and last night, [Quatraro] brought me in and asked me what I thought about pitching [today],” Lugo said. “I said I need to pitch. I can't go 11-12 days without pitching. So it became a conversation of how much, and I said, ‘Whatever you guys are comfortable with. But I need to keep throwing, need to keep my routine.’”

Lugo’s two scoreless innings on Saturday -- with one hit, one walk and three strikeouts on 36 pitches -- was a good way to finish the regular season and get set for October, although he would have liked to throw as many innings as he could have to finish the regular season as MLB’s innings leader.

He’s No. 1 with 206 2/3 now, but Seattle's Logan Gilbert enters his start Sunday at 203 innings.

Lugo will be the one pitching in October, though.

The short start also allowed Quatraro to get some of his relievers work. Michael Lorenzen, who had a short start on Wednesday in his first game back from the injured list, pitched two innings while allowing an unearned run that scored on his errant throw to first base. Daniel Lynch IV added two scoreless innings.

Both figure to be multi-inning weapons in the Royals' ‘pen next week.

“Thankfully I came out of that Wednesday start when I did,” Lorenzen said. “Because today I was able to go out and feel stronger and feel good.”

John Schreiber and Sam Long got high-leverage innings at the back-end of the game. Long worked a scoreless eighth inning and recorded one out in the ninth before Travis d’Arnaud hit the walk-off home run on a 2-0 fastball. If the Royals had taken the lead in the ninth, Kris Bubic would have come in for the save.