The Kansas City Royals needed just two pitches from Cardinals reliever Chris Roycroft to take the lead and avoid the sweep, as Maikel Garcia’s first-pitch single was enough to defeat St Louis 2-1 Sunday, May 18 at Kauffman Stadium.

Roycroft’s first pitch in the seventh inning was sent by Drew Waters into the right field corner, which he was able to stretch into a triple. The next pitch was Garcia’s single, breaking a 1-1 deadlock that had been in place since the fourth. Despite 21 hits between the two teams, the Cardinals could only score on a one-out home run by Alec Burleson in the top of the fourth, while the Royals converted a leadoff double by Hunter Renfroe into their run when Dairon Blanco doubled later in the inning. The Cardinals stranded 13 runners on base, while the Royals left nine.

Matthew Liberatore ended up with a no-decision in his quality start, striking out five Royals while allowing the first run on six hits and a walk. Michawl Wacha went five innings in his start, allowing the lone home run on eight hits while landing six punchouts. Lucas Erceg had one walk and one strikeout in his 1.2 innings of work to get his first win of the year. while Carlos Estévez claimed his 13th save of the year.

The Royals are now 26-22 and are tied for third in the AL Central following Cleveland’s fourth straight loss. Both are now a half-game behind Minnesota, whose 13-game winning streak was snapped yesterday by Milwaukee, while Detroit sit five games ahead with the best record in the majors. The Royals travel west to San Francisco to face the Giants; pregame on KMMO-FM 102.9 is at 8 p.m., while first pitch is at 8:45 p.m. Kris Bubic will get the start.

As for the Cardinals, they remain second in the NL Central with a 26-21 record, two games behind the Cubs. The Cardinals will return to Busch Stadium to face Detroit; first pitch is at 6:45 p.m., with Sonny Gray getting the start.