KANSAS CITY -- On back-to-back nights this week, Kansas City Royals manager Ned Yost experienced the sort of bullpen meltdowns that have been commonplace during Brad Ausmus' tenure as the Detroit Tigers' manager, the sort of thing that happened time and again for Mike Redmond before he was fired as the skipper of the Miami Marlins.

Royals starter Edinson Volquez carried a 4-2 lead over the Tigers into the eighth inning Wednesday, in complete command of the game. But after the first four batters reached base, the Tigers' J.D. Martinez hit a two-run single off reliever Kelvin Herrera, and Detroit tacked on a couple more runs after that. Then, on Thursday, Greg Holland wasn't able to retire any of the six Angels he faced, surrendering four hits and walking two; Yost watched a 5-1 lead turn into a 7-6 loss, marking the first time in 15 months that Kansas City led after eight innings and failed to win.

Yet it really doesn't matter, because despite those two losses, the Royals' advantage in the American League Central stood at 11 games. Yes, an 11-game lead, with just 48 games to play. It's at 12 games now, and MLB.com assesses Kansas City's chances of winning the division at a mere 99.2 percent and the odds of K.C. making the playoffs at 99.6 percent.

Yost doesn't want to hear any of that, and probably no player will say out loud that the Royals are headed to October for the second year in a row. But Yost and his players can rightfully adjust to the numbers and use the last six weeks of the regular season to prepare for the postseason.

A checklist of stuff that Yost, his staff and the players need to get done:

1. Make sure Alex Gordon is 100 percent healthy: It is Gordon's instinct to do everything he can to stay on the field, and as he works back from a significant groin strain, he told reporters he expects to begin a minor league rehab assignment soon.

Here's what the Royals can tell Gordon: Take your time. Feel a little weary? Take a day. Feel some discomfort? Take a day. There will come a point when it will be important for Gordon to get back on the field, to give him enough innings and plate appearances to regain his timing, and to recover his defensive explosiveness as much as he can this season. But there is absolutely no reason for him to rush back into the lineup.

2. Attempt to fix whatever needs fixing with Holland: The Royals would be doing this if they were fighting for a playoff spot, but now Holland and pitching coach Dave Eiland have the leeway to tinker, to go back to the lab, so to speak, if they think there's some mechanical correction to be made.