Royals at Cardinals
The St. Louis Cardinals' have feasted on home cooking this season, with the Kansas City Royals being the latest guest left starving at the table. After posting a 4-0 triumph in the opener, the Cardinals vie for a victory in the I-70 Series when the Show Me State rivals reconvene at Busch Stadium on Saturday.
Jon Jay drove in two and also scored a run on Friday as St. Louis won its second straight and improved to a majors-best 23-7 at home. Jhonny Peralta, who collected three hits in the series opener, is batting .381 (8-for-21) versus Saturday starter Jeremy Guthrie. Mike Moustakas had two of the five hits for the American League Central-leading Royals, who saw their four-game winning streak come to a screeching halt. The loss notwithstanding, Kansas City has still won five of its last eight meetings versus St. Louis since the start of the 2014 season.
TV: 4:10 p.m. ET, FSN Kansas City, FSN Midwest (St. Louis)
PITCHING MATCHUP: Royals RH Jeremy Guthrie (4-3, 5.82 ERA) vs. Cardinals LH Tyler Lyons (0-0, 5.54)
Guthrie pitched well for the second straight outing on Sunday, but walked away with his second no-decision despite allowing just two runs on three hits in 6 1/3 innings versus Texas. The 36-year-old exited with a pair of Rangers on base before Kelvin Herrera permitted a pair of singles, producing both runs charged to Guthrie. The veteran owns an 0-1 career mark with a 3.00 ERA in two starts against the Cardinals.
St. Louis recalled Lyons from Triple-A Memphis on Friday after placing Lance Lynn on the 15-day disabled list with a right forearm strain. The 27-year-old Lyons struggled in three starts last month while replacing injured ace Adam Wainwright, but posted a 5-2 mark with a 2.61 ERA with the Redbirds. "Tyler has been throwing extremely well," Cardinals manager Mike Matheny said. "We believe he's going to be able to translate that here."
WALK-OFFS
1. St. Louis OF Randal Grichuk had an RBI triple among his two hits in the series opener to improve to 5-for-22 in his career versus Kansas City.
2. Royals 2B Omar Infante was hitless in all three at-bats Friday to drop to 3-for-36 in his last 10 games.
3. Cardinals 3B Matt Carpenter is 2-for-22 with 10 strikeouts in his last seven contests.