Cardinals 6, Royals 1
KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Third baseman Matt Carpenter belted a two-run homer and right-hander Michael Wacha threw seven strong innings as the St. Louis Cardinals downed the Kansas City Royals 6-1 on Sunday to avoid being swept by their cross-state rivals.
Carpenter, who entered the game with a .486 batting average at Kauffman Stadium, homered in the sixth with second baseman Kolten Wong aboard.
Wacha (7-0), a 2012 first-round draft pick who missed 68 games last season with a shoulder injury, stymied the Royals on five hits and one unearned run.
Catcher Yadier Molina hit a two-run single in the eighth to cap off the Cardinals scoring. The inning also included first baseman Matt Adams' second double.
Royals right-hander Yordano Ventura (3-4) was replaced by Luke Hochevar to start the eighth after Ventura surrendered four runs on five hits and two walks, while striking out seven.
The first inning started poorly for Ventura. He walked leadoff batter Wong on four pitches. Ventura worked the count full on Carpenter before walking him, which prompted a mound visit from pitching coach Dave Eiland.
Ventura yielded a run-producing single to designated hitter Jhonny Peralta and an RBI double to Adams. At this juncture, Ventura had thrown 18 pitches without retiring a hitter and put the Royals in a 2-0 hole with Cardinals residing on second and third base eager to increase their lead.
Then a base-running blunder by Peralta aided Ventura. When a Ventura pitch in the dirt rolled a few feet away from catcher Salvador Perez, Peralta started to come home and was caught in a rundown for the first out.
After Peralta's base-running gaffe, Ventura retired the next 14 batters, striking out five.
The Royals' offense, however, could do little with Wacha, who gave up two hits and walked one in the first four innings. Wacha coaxed Perez and first baseman Eric Hosmer to ground into double plays in the second and fourth innings.
Center fielder Peter Bourjos' fifth-inning error gifted the Royals with an unearned run in the fifth. With one out, left fielder Alex Gordon's fly escaped Bourjos and he raced to second base. Perez brought him home with a single, extending his hitting streak to 10 games.
NOTES: LF Matt Holliday, who has reached base in his first 40 games, was a game-time scratch from the Cardinals lineup with a contusion on his strained left forearm after being hit by an Edinson Volquez pitch Saturday night.. .. RF Alex Rios, who has missed 35 Royals games with a fractured left hand, will begin a minor league rehab assignment Monday with Triple-A Omaha. ... Royals RHP Jeremy Guthrie, who starts Memorial Day at New York, is 3-0 on the road this season and 7-1 with a 3.51 ERA in away games since Aug. 1. ... Royals closer RHP Greg Holland has not pitched in 10 games, earning a save May 14 at Texas. ... Cardinals RHP Carlos Martinez will make his first career start against the Diamondbacks on Monday.