Zane Johnston fans nine as Royals top Expos 3-1

Zane Johnston turned a tight standings race into a Royals advantage. His five-inning, nine-strikeout line at East Lake Park gave Ridley Park’s second-place club exactly the kind of edge that usually decides a six-inning Wiffle Ball game, and the 3-1 win left the Expos stuck at .500 instead of climbing into better position.

The Royals and Expos entered the matchup separated by just one win, with the Royals at 5-3 and the Expos at 4-4, and the game played out like a direct swing at the middle of the table. Johnston allowed just two hits and one run while walking none, and the Royals did enough on offense with four hits to turn a low-event night into a clean result. The game was played Wednesday, June 17, 2026, at 7:50 PM and ended after six innings.

The Expos had one real punch. Sean Hinchey launched their lone run in the third inning, but the Royals answered in the same frame and never let the game tilt back. That response mattered. In a league where traffic on the bases is at a premium, Johnston erased innings before the Expos could build anything, and the Royals’ bats only needed a few timely swings to stay in front.

Mike Ward helped keep the Royals’ offense moving by reaching twice, while Adam Beyers added a hit and gave the lineup another useful turn. The Royals scored in the first, absorbed the Hinchey homer in the third, then tacked on two more runs in the sixth to create the separation that made the final score look comfortable even though the game stayed tight for most of the night.

The standings showed why this mattered beyond one box score. The Royals moved to 5-3 and 12 points, good for second place behind the Athletics, while the Expos fell to 4-4 and 9 points. Johnston’s value keeps cutting both ways too: he is leading the league with nine home runs and 18 RBIs, sits fourth in on-base percentage at .520, and now owns four pitching wins with 44 strikeouts. The Expos, meanwhile, also dropped a 3-0 game to the Diamondbacks later that night, a rough double dose that underscored the same problem: when the bats go quiet, they leave too much room for a top rival to take control.