Friday 29th March 2024

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Salvador Perez and Franchy Cordero each hit two homers and drove in five runs Wednesday night, and Kansas City got a solid start from Danny Duffy while pummeling the St. Louis Cardinals 12-3 in their series finale.

The Cardinals (27-26) remain 3-1/2 games back of first-place Chicago in the NL Central after the Cubs lost to Pittsburgh, but their edge for the No. 2 spot in the division was nearly wiped out. The Cincinnati Reds (29-28) beat the Milwaukee Brewers (27-28) in their series finale to close within percentage points of St. Louis headed toward a pivotal final weekend.

The Cardinals have five games in four days against Milwaukee beginning Thursday night.

Both of Perez’s homers came off Carlos Martinez (0-3), who departed with a strained lower back with two runners on and nobody out in the sixth. Seth Elledge inherited a 1-0 count against Cordero, who had just returned from a wrist injury, and he crushed his first homer of the year two pitches later to extend the Kansas City lead.

Cordero added a solo shot off Kodi Whitley in the seventh for his second career multi-homer game.

Duffy (4-4) allowed Dexter Fowler’s single in the fifth inning and loaded the bases in the sixth, but reliever Scott Barlow retired pinch-hitter Brad Miller to preserve a 6-1 lead. The Royals’ bullpen handled the Cardinals the rest of the way to give Kansas City its first rubber-game win in six tries this season.

Cincinnati has three games left against Minnesota. If needed to settle who is in the playoffs or home-field advantage, the Cardinals also could have two makeup games against Detroit on Monday.

UP NEXT
Cardinals: Kwang Hyun Kim (2-0, 1.59 ERA) starts against the Brewers on Thursday night at Busch Stadium. Game time is 7:15.
Royals: LHP Kris Bubic (1-6, 3.97) goes Thursday night to open a season-ending four-game set against Detroit at The K. Pregame begins at 6:30, with game time at 7:05. You can hear the broadcast from the Royals’ Radio Network on KMMO FM 102.9.