Royals Complete Doubleheader Sweep at Cardinals with Game Two Win
Michael Wacha didn't turn in his best outing Wednesday, pitching in the ballpark where he won NLCS MVP honors more than a decade ago. However, his offense did more than enough to back him up as the Royals completed a doubleheader sweep at Busch Stadium on Wednesday with an 8-5 win over the Cardinals in game two. The result doubled as a series sweep in a two-game set between the Missouri rivals.
Just hours after a 6-4 win in a makeup game postponed initially by an inclement weather forecast, the Royals (51-43) took the field again behind former longtime Cardinal Wacha. He went five innings, surrendering four runs, but left with the lead and got credited with the win in his old stomping grounds.
St. Louis starter Gordon Graceffo, taking the ball in a spot start in only his second MLB game, did not fare fantastically. Manager Oli Marmol went to get him after 3.1 innings of three-run ball. Both starting pitchers gave up a home run. In the first game, the starters each went six innings or more.
Much as they did in the first game, the Cardinals got on the board first in the second inning with a solo home run by right fielder Lars Nootbaar. The only difference in the encore was that it was Nootbaar hitting the long ball in the second inning rather than third baseman Nolan Arenado. St. Louis (48-44) was given virtually no time to rest on this lead, as Royals left fielder MJ Melendez launched a leadoff solo home run to tie things up in the top of the third.
Kansas City scored the next two runs in the fourth inning, first on a sacrifice fly by designated hitter Salvador Perez (Freddy Fermin served as the catcher) and then a single by left fielder Hunter Renfroe. Renfroe had two hits in game one. The Cardinals got one back in the home half of that same inning with an RBI ground-rule double off the bat of second baseman Nolan Gorman.
In the fifth inning, which was an offensive burst for the Royals in game one (three runs), the visitors tacked on a pair once again on an RBI single from third baseman Adam Frazier and a sac fly by shortstop Bobby Witt Jr. Frazier manned the hot corner in place of Maikel Garcia in game two. In the bottom half, St. Louis again responded, entirely with two outs. Willson Contreras got things started with a single, then designated hitter Alec Burleson brought him home. Burleson scored from third on a single by first baseman Paul Goldschmidt. That sequence made it a 5-4 game.
All game long, though, the Royals scored in bunches. The visitors plated their first three runs in a row, then the two in the fifth inning. After that, Kansas City got two more, one each in the sixth and seventh innings, In the sixth, Perez hit his second home run of the day and 16th of the season. It was a solo blast, same as game one. That hit chased Cardinals reliever Matthew Liberatore from the game. In the seventh, first baseman Vinnie Pasquantino hit an RBI single to score center fielder Kyle Isbel. The Cardinals had once again allowed two runs in a row to score. In the home half of the seventh, St. Louis only got one run back: an RBI groundout from Contreras.
Isbel decided he was not finished scoring runs in the top of the ninth, and just ahead of the All-Star break, he hit a solo home run off former All-Star Andrew Kittredge. Kansas City hit three home runs in game two. It hit just one in the first contest of the doubleheader, Perez's. In that game, the Cardinals hit three home runs, whereas they mustered only Nootbaar's.
Fenway Park is next on the docket for the Royals in the team's final series before the All-Star break, wherein Witt Jr. will participate in the Home Run Derby and he, Perez, Seth Lugo and Cole Ragans were named All-Stars. Three of the four, with the exception of Perez, are first-timers at the Midsummer Classic. First pitch in the series against Boston will be at 6:10 p.m. CT on Friday.
WILL MILLER