Cardinals 4, Royals 3
ST. LOUIS -- After a shaky first inning put John Lackey in a 2-0 hole, he did what he has been doing all year, especially in pitcher-friendly Busch Stadium.
The St. Louis right-hander shut down the Kansas City Royals in his last six innings Thursday night, leading the Cardinals to a 4-3 win in a interleague makeup game.
Lackey (9-5) allowed six hits and two runs in seven innings and 110 pitches, walking two and striking out five. He gave up three hits after the first inning, mowing down 10 of the last 11 hitters he faced, as he improved to 7-2 at home with a 1.91 ERA.
Working for the third straight game, closer Trevor Rosenthal gave up an RBI triple to second baseman Omar Infante in the ninth but escaped from a second-and-third, no-out jam as St. Louis (61-34) improved to 34-12 at home.
After fanning pinch-hitter Dusty Coleman, Rosenthal induced a fielder's choice bouncer from shortstop Alcides Escobar that cut down Infante at home. Third baseman Mike Moustakas bounced out to second base, cinching Rosenthal's 30th save of the year.
Starter Chris Young (8-6) lasted just three innings for Kansas City (57-37), yielding five hits and four runs with a walk and a strikeout.
The game was originally scheduled for June 14 but rained out after a 2 1/2-hour delay. The Royals arrived in town early Thursday morning after beating Pittsburgh 5-1 and flew back home right after the game for a weekend series with Houston.
Kansas City opened the scoring in the top of the first inning. Catcher Salvador Perez and right fielder Alex Rios each stroked two-out RBI singles, scoring Moustakas and first baseman Eric Hosmer, respectively.
St. Louis tied it in the second with one swing of Randal Grichuk's bat. The center fielder lofted a full-count pitch down the left field line and into the front row for his 10th homer of the year, scoring right fielder Jason Heyward in front of him.
Cardinals third baseman Matt Carpenter snapped the tie an inning later with his 10th homer, a towering two-run blast into the St. Louis bullpen in right-center field that brought home second baseman Kolten Wong.
NOTES: St. Louis OF Stephen Piscotty (stiff neck) was scratched from the lineup after being scheduled to make his first big league start at first base, a position he just started playing earlier this month. Dan Johnson replaced him in the lineup, batting eighth. ... From the start of 2014 through Wednesday, Kansas City owned the majors' best interleague record at 26-10. ... Cardinals LHP Jaime Garcia (groin) threw five no-hit, no-walk innings Thursday in a rehab start for Class A Peoria. He struck out six. Two Peoria relievers completed a no-hitter against Clinton. Garcia might return to the majors for a start either Tuesday or Wednesday when Cincinnati is in town.