KANSAS CITY — With the score tied and the Kansas City Royals bullpen having demonstrated it’s unsteadiness the previous night, the Cardinals were still in position to earn a two-game sweep of the I-70 series heading into the seventh inning on Saturday night.
Instead, the Cardinals’ bullpen gave up four runs in the seventh and watched the Royals build up enough of a cushion to guard against a late-inning onslaught.
Cardinals right-hander Ryan Fernandez, who has been one of the club’s most reliable high-leverage relievers, gave up three of the four runs in the inning that paved the way for a 8-3 Cardinals loss in the finale of the two-game set at Kauffman Stadium.
The Cardinals (60-58) dropped the season series to their cross-state rivals. They also fell to eight games behind the Milwaukee Brewers (67-49) in the NL Central.
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Paul Goldschmidt went 1 for 2 with a home run and a walk in the loss. His two-run home run accounted for all the Cardinals scoring through the first seven innings.
Nolan Gorman (3 for 4) was the lone Cardinals with a multi-hit game, though eight of the nine starters collected hits in the game.
The Cardinals were just 1 for 6 with runners in scoring position.
The Royals (65-53) scored six of their eight runs in the seventh and eighth innings.
Wacha welcomes Cardinals to KC
Former Cardinals first-round pick (2012) Michael Wacha started against his former club for the second time this season. Wacha, a right-hander, made his 21st start of the season for the Royals on Saturday.
On July 10, Wacha pitched five innings and allowed four runs (three earned) on seven hits and earned his sixth win of the season in a Royals victory at Busch Stadium.
Saturday, Wacha held the Cardinals to two runs on five hits and two walks in seven innings. He struck out six and gave up one home run.
Winn under the weather
Cardinals shortstop Masyn Winn got the night off on Saturday. He’d been dealing with a cold that had affected a couple of his teammates in previous days. He played despite the illness on Friday night, but Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol opted to give Winn Saturday off and create an extended period of rest combined with the team’s day off on Sunday.
Veteran shortstop Brandon Crawford started in Winn’s place. Crawford entered the night having gone 8 for 15 with four doubles, a triple and a walk in his career against Wacha. Crawford had a slash line of .533/.529/.933 against Wacha.
Crawford went 0 for 3 against Wacha with two strikeouts on Saturday.
Goldschmidt goes deep in first at-bat
The Cardinals grabbed a 2-0 lead in the second inning on their fourth home run of the two-game series.
Nolan Arenado reached base on a grounder bobbled by Royals shortstop Bobby Witt Jr., though it was ruled a hit. Then with one out, Goldschmidt clubbed a 1-2 slider on the outer half of the plate an estimated 430 feet to center field.
Goldschmidt’s 18th home run of the season gave the Cardinals the first two runs of the game. For the second night in a row, they started the scoring with a two-run home run.
Pallante loses steam in the sixth
Cardinals starting pitcher Andre Pallante came up one out short of recording a quality start. He allowed two runs (one earned) on three hits and four walks in 5 2/3 innings. The final run on his ledger scored after he’d been removed from the game.
Pallante gave up a run in the third inning. The leadoff batter of the inning, Kyle Isbel, reached on a slow roller in front of home plate. Cardinals catcher Willson Contreras fielded and threw wildly to first base, which allowed Isbel to advance to second base. Isbel advanced to third on a groundout by Maikel Garcia, and Isbel scored on an RBI groundout by Witt.
Pallante pitched around traffic in the fourth inning when a leadoff walk and a fielding error by second baseman Nolan Gorman put two men on base with no outs. Pallante retired the next two batters and then got Garrett Hampson to ground into an inning-ending fielder’s choice.
In the sixth, Pallante walked Paul DeJong with two outs and gave up a single to MJ Melendez. That prompted Marmol to turn to right-hander Ryan Fernandez out of the bullpen with two runners on and Freddy Fermin coming to the plate.
Fernandez came into the day with the second-lowest percentage of inherited runners having scored of any reliever in the NL (18.2%), but Fermin swatted an RBI single just past Crawford’s dive and into left field. That tied the score 2-2.
Cardinals collapse in the seventh
The Royals took the lead in the seventh inning with Fernandez still on the mound.
Right fielder Tommy Pham nearly made a sliding catch on a sinking line drive by Isbel to start the seventh. However, the ball popped out of Pham’s glove as he slid on the turf. Isbel stole second base after he got a monstrous jump on Fernandez and Contreras double clutched before his throw to second base.
With Isbel in scoring position, Garcia singled to right field and drove in the go-ahead run.
Garcia then stole second base, his 28th steal of the season, to put himself in scoring position with Witt at the plate. Witt lined an RBI triple off the wall in right-center field. Witt was the last hitter Fernandez faced.
Left-hander John King got Vinnie Pasquantino to line out for the first out of the inning, but King then gave up a two-run home run to Salvador Perez.
Four of the Royals’ first five batters reached base, and all four scored. The Cardinals used three pitchers in the inning, and they gave up a pair of stolen bases. The Royals took a 6-2 lead into the final two innings.