Royals earn doubleheader sweep over the Cardinals in an I-70 showdown
ST. LOUIS, Mo. (KMIZ)
The Kansas City Royals came out on top in a battle of the Show-Me State teams. KC captured wins in both games on Wednesday to get a sweep over the St. Louis Cardinals.
The I-70 showdown came one day late due to rain in St. Louis on Tuesday, which dialed up a split doubleheader at Busch Stadium one day later. Unfortunately for STL, that doubleheader came on a day where the pitching staff was a bit off kilter.
In game one, Andre Pallante got the start for the Cardinals. He ended up throwing for six innings and allowed four runs on six hits and fell to 4-4 in 2024 with the loss. However, the Royals cushioned their lead when Chris Roycroft came in in relief, as he let up two runs on three hits.
Kansas City ended up winning the ball game 6-4 courtesy of game-changing home run off the bat of Salvador Perez.
Heading into the sixth inning, the ball game was tied up at three runs apiece, but Perez hit a 424-foot homer off of Pallante to give his club a one-run lead. His team ended up taking that lead all the way to the bank.
Important to note, the Cardinal offense did not go stagnant in game one. Nolan Arenado, Alec Burleson and Paul Goldschmidt each hit home runs in the loss.
In game two, the Royals captured an 8-5 win over the Cardinals.
It was an offensive outburst for Kansas City, as Perez hit his second home run of the day and his teammates MJ Melendez and Kyle Isbel each hit one over the wall, as well.
Gordon Graceffo got the start for STL on the hill and it wasn't necessarily a pretty one. He only ended up going 3.1 innings and allowed three runs on four hits. However, his relief didn't fair much better, as Matthew Liberatore, Ryan Fernandez, John King and Andrew Kittredge gave up a combined five runs on eight hits.
On the hill for Kansas City, Michael Wacha improved to 6-6 in 2024. He went 5.0 inningss and allowed three runs on seven hits, while fanning three batters.
