The Kansas City Royals overcame two early deficits to power past the St Louis Cardinals on Wednesday, sweeping the doubleheader at Busch Stadium with wins of 6-4 and 8-5.
The first game saw the Cardinals jump to a 3-0 lead with home runs from Nolan Arenado in the second and Alec Burleson in the third. A pair of doubles in the fifth from MJ Melendez and Garrett Hampson tied the game up. Salvador Perez gave the Royals the lead in the sixth with a home run to center field, and would add to the lead in the eighth with an RBI single. Vinnie Pasquantino also had an RBI in the eighth with a sacrifice fly, while the Cardinals’ Paul Goldschmidt claimed a solo home run off James McArthur in the ninth.
Alec Marsh went six innings to claim his seventh win of the season, allowing three runs, three hits and one walk while fanning eight. Andre Pallante took the loss for the Cardinals, with Perez’ home run being one of the four runs allowed on six hits, while striking out five.
The evening contest started similarly, with Lars Nootbar returning from injury to belt a home run in the second. MJ Melendez tied it up in the top of the third with a home run of his own, and Salvador Perez gave the Royals the lead with a sacrifice fly in the fourth. Hunter Renfroe also brought in a run in the visitors’ half of the frame, followed by Nolan Gorman providing a run with a ground-rule double in the home half. The Royals did their most damage in the fifth with one out, when Adam Frazier stretched a one-out single in a three-base sprint after the Cardinals were unable to throw Kyle Isbel out at the plate. Bobby Witt Jr would bring Frazier home on a sacrifice fly to make the score 5-2. The Cardinals grabbed those two runs back in the bottom half of the inning with an Alec Burleson double and Gorman single. That set the stage for Perez’ 16th home run of the season in the next inning, followed by RBIs from Vinnie Pasquantino in the seventh and Kyle Isbel in the ninth. Willson Contreras brought in the Cardinals’ final run in the seventh with a groundout.
Michael Wacha picked up his sixth win of the year in his return to Busch Stadium, allowing four runs (three earned) on seven hits and one walk while striking out three in his five innings. Gordon Graceffo made his major league debut as the 27th man on the Cardinals roster, taking the loss after going 3.1 innings, allowing four hits while recording two strikeouts. James McArthur secured saves in both games to bring his total on the year to 17.
The wins have Kansas City a half-game behind Boston for the third wild card spot, ahead of a critical three-game road stand at Fenway Park. The Red Sox face Oakland this evening while the Royals have another rest day. The Royals are at 51-43, 7.5 games behind Cleveland in the AL Central. The Cardinals didn’t lose much ground to San Diego in the wild card race, as the Padres dropped their fourth straight game to keep the Cardinals a game ahead for the second wild card spot in the National League. St Louis’ 48-44 record has them 5.5 games behind Milwaukee in the Central Division. The Cardinals will have a rest day before welcoming the Chicago Cubs to Busch Stadium for a three-game series.