KANSAS CITY— Outfielder Jarrod Dyson delivered the decisive hit for the second straight night -- a safety-squeeze single -- and right-hander Edinson Volquez fired 7 2/3 strong innings as the Royals rolled to a 5-1 win over the Pirates in Wednesday night’s rubber game at sold-out (39,105 fans) Kauffman Stadium.

“It was a pretty big series,” said Royals first baseman Eric Hosmer, who collected two hits including a fourth-inning homer. “That’s a really good team over there. They do a lot of things well so for us to get two out of three and bounce back from Monday’s loss, that’s good.”

With the score tied at 1 in the seventh, Alex Rios delivered a perfect hit-and-run single to send Omar Infante to third. Dyson, who hit a two-run single to beat the Pirates on Tuesday, then pushed a bunt toward first and Infante beat the throw home. The Pirates challenged the safe call, but the ruling was confirmed.

Mike Moustakas belted a three-run homer to cap the seventh. Volquez gave up one run and eight hits, and helped out a weary bullpen

“I just got a fastball up and was able to pull my hands in,” Moustakas said. “I was able to get the barrel through the zone.”

As for Volquez, manager Ned Yost said, “He was phenomenal. He commanded all three pitches tonight. He kept his pitch count down. You know, those 3-4-5 hitters over there, they’re really tough.”

Pirates starter Charlie Morton went 6 2/3 innings, giving up seven hits and five runs.

“That was probably the best stuff I’ve had this year,” said Morton, who elevated a 3-0 pitch that Moustakas got ahold of. “I was trying to stay out of the middle of the plate, so the count went to 3-0. He must’ve been looking for something up.”