Kyle Leahy’s strong start led the host St. Louis Cardinals to a 4-2 win over the Kansas City Royals on Saturday afternoon.
Alec Burleson knocked in two for the Cardinals, and Victor Scott II and Masyn Winn also added RBIs. St. Louis will go for the series sweep in Sunday’s finale after beating Kansas City 5-4 in 11 innings on Friday.
Leahy (5-3) got his third win in his last four starts, throwing six innings of one-run ball. He walked three and gave up five hits, working out of a bases-loaded jam in the second.
It’s been a week to forget for the Royals, who have lost six straight and eight of their last 10.
All three of St. Louis’s runs off Royals starter Noah Cameron (2-3), who took the loss, came on plays where Kansas City recorded an out.
Jac Caglianone hit his fifth home run of the year for Kansas City. Vinnie Pasquantino went 1-for-4 with an RBI.
After retiring Masyn Winn to begin his day, Cameron was challenged by the heart of the Cardinals order. Ivan Herrera hit a ground-rule double, Jordan Walker followed with a single and Burleson brought home Herrera with a sac fly for the first run of the game.
Maikel Garcia snapped an 0-for-12 stretch at the plate with a one-out double in the fifth, and Pasquantino smacked a single into center field to tie the game.
Thomas Saggase broke his 0-for-29 rut with a leadoff single in the bottom of the frame. When Church doubled him over to third in the next at-bat, St. Louis had their best scoring opportunity, and they took full advantage.
The Cardinals retook the lead on Scott II’s RBI groundout. Winn then hit the Cardinals’ second sac fly of the game to double their advantage to 3-1.
Burleson spoiled Bailey Falter’s return from the injured list with an RBI single in the eighth. Falter had been out since April 1 with left elbow inflammation.
Caglianone’s solo shot led off the ninth against George Soriano. The tying run came to the plate when Isaac Collins singled, but Soriano forced Kyle Isbel to ground into a game-ending double play.
The game was delayed approximately 45 minutes from its scheduled start time of 2:15 local because of inclement weather in the area.
