ST. LOUIS — The Cardinals staked pitcher Andre Pallante to a three-run lead after the first three innings against their cross-state rivals. But the Kansas City Royals scored the next six runs, including four against Pallante, and doused any early fire the Cardinals might have had burning.
Home runs by Nolan Arenado and Alec Burleson put the first three runs of the game in the scoring column for the Cardinals, but Royals All-Star catcher Salvador Perez’s solo home run in the sixth inning broke a tie score.
The Cardinals trailed the rest of the game on the way to a 6-4 loss to the Royals in the first game of a doubleheader at Busch Stadium on Wednesday afternoon.
All four Cardinals runs scored on home runs. They collected six hits in the game.
The Cardinals (48-43) went 15 consecutive at-bats without a batter reaching base from the third inning into the eighth. Backup catcher Pedro Pages’ one-out single stopped that drought in the eighth.
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The Royals (50-43) scored four runs on six hits, including four extra-base hits, against Pallante. They scored two more runs against relief pitcher Chris Roycroft (1 2/3 innings, three hits, two runs) in the eighth on a Vinnie Pasquantino sacrifice fly and a Perez RBI single.
Paul Goldschmidt’s ninth-inning home run with one out pulled the Cardinals within two runs, but the Cardinals stranded a runner on base at the end of the game. The final at-bat of the game, taken by Lars Nootbaar, was the only at-bat for the Cardinals with a runner in scoring position.
I-70 series Part I
The Cardinals and Royals each came into the I-70 interleague series with winning records for the first time since Aug. 10, 2017. The Cardinals entered the day in second place in the NL Central, while the Royals began the day in third place in the AL Central.
From the start of interleague play in 1997 up until the start of play Wednesday, the Cardinals posted a .604 winning percentage against the Royals.
The Cardinals scored six runs or more in 18 of their previous 25 wins against the Royals, dating back to June 28, 2016.
After the two-game series at Busch Stadium, the teams will conclude their I-70 series for this season Aug. 9-10 in Kansas City.
Arenado heating up
Arenado homered in his first at-bat of the day and gave the Cardinals a 1-0 lead in the second inning. He mashed a 2-2 curveball from Royals starting pitcher Alec Marsh an estimated 411 feet to left-center field. Arenado’s eighth home run of the season was his first since June 27 and just his third since the start of June.
The home run also gave Arenado 98 in his tenure with the Cardinals, which tied him with Cardinals Hall of Famer Joe Torre for the 25th-most in franchise history.
Arenado went 9 for 29 (.310) on the club’s recent road trip, and he entered the day having gone 18 for 57 (.316) in his previous 15 games. He’d slugged just .386 during that span with two extra-base hits and five RBIs.
With the home run, he’d reached base safely in each of his last 14 games against the Royals, including a stretch of four consecutive games with a home run against the Royals from Aug. 13, 2014, through April 12, 2022.
Burleson stays hot
Burleson tacked on a pair of runs to give the Cardinals a 3-0 lead in the third inning with his 15th home run of the season. He belted a 2-2 slider and sent it on a line into the home bullpen beyond the right field wall.
Burleson took over sole possession of the team RBI lead with that blast. He entered the day tied with Nolan Gorman for the team lead with 45 RBIs this season.
Burleson’s two-run home run also gave him 23 RBIs since June 18, the most in Major League Baseball in that span.
Royals erase deficit in the fifth
Hunter Renfroe’s leadoff double in the fifth inning started a string of three consecutive hits, including an infield single by Freddy Fermin and RBI double by MJ Melendez that gave the Royals their first run of the game.
Then with Melendez and Fermin on second and third, Garrett Hampson lined a two-run double to center field and tied the score 3-3 with one out. The Royals smacked three doubles in the inning.
With two outs and Hampson on third base after a stolen base, Pallante struck out Royals star shortstop Bobby Witt Jr. to end the inning and keep the score tied going into the bottom of the fifth.
Perez lifts Royals to a lead
The score remained tied entering the sixth inning, but Pallante gave up a solo home run to Royals star catcher and captain Perez.
The one-out home run by Perez came on a 2-1 fastball from Pallante on the outer half of the plate. Perez, recently selected to his ninth All-Star game, blasted the pitch an estimated 424 feet to center field for his 15th home run of the season.
The home run gave the Royals four consecutive runs after the Cardinals grabbed their early three-run advantage.
The Royals’ right-hander Marsh, who made his 25th career start, retired 11 batters in a row after Burleson’s two-run home run in the third inning. Marsh matched his season high with eight strikeouts in the game. He allowed three runs on three hits and one walk in six innings. He left the game with the Royals leading by a run.