Cardinals Shut Out by Royals, Miss Chance at I-70 Sweep
Cardinal Chronicle
Cardinals Shut Out by Royals, Miss Chance at I-70 Sweep
St. Louis, MO
By Ray Mileur
ST. LOUIS — The brooms stayed in the closet Sunday afternoon at Busch Stadium.
After two straight wins over Kansas City and a chance to finish off a weekend sweep in the I-70 Series, the Cardinals’ offense went quiet in a 2-0 loss to the Royals. Kansas City veteran Salvador Perez drove in both runs, Stephen Kolek kept St. Louis on the ground and off the scoreboard, and the Cardinals had their three-game winning streak snapped.
The loss dropped St. Louis to 27-19, still firmly in the National League Central race, but it was one of those old-fashioned reminders that good pitching can still make a hot lineup look ordinary. The Cardinals entered the day having won 13 of their previous 18 games since April 27, but Sunday belonged to Kolek and Perez.
Kansas City struck almost immediately. Maikel Garcia opened the game with a single, moved to third when Victor Scott II misplayed Bobby Witt Jr.’s single in center field, and scored on Perez’s sacrifice fly to left. That gave the Royals a 1-0 lead before the Cardinals had taken a swing.
That one early mistake mattered because Kolek gave St. Louis very little afterward. The Royals right-hander worked 6 1/3 scoreless innings, allowing four hits, walking one and striking out three. He threw 82 pitches, 61 for strikes, and used a heavy ground-ball approach to keep the Cardinals from mounting much of anything.
Andre Pallante deserved better than a loss. The Cardinals’ right-hander worked 6 2/3 innings, allowing two runs — only one earned — on eight hits, with no walks and seven strikeouts. He became the first Cardinals starter this season to record an out in the seventh inning, a meaningful step for a rotation that has been trying to push deeper into games.
The only earned run Pallante allowed came in the fourth, when Perez jumped the first pitch and sent it into the left-field seats for his seventh home run of the season. It stretched Kansas City’s lead to 2-0, and on this day, that was enough.
St. Louis finished with five hits. Iván Herrera, Alec Burleson, Nolan Gorman, Masyn Winn and Thomas Saggese each had one. Jordan Walker went 0-for-4, JJ Wetherholt was 0-for-3 with a walk, and Nathan Church went 0-for-4, including the final out of the game after a long battle in the ninth.
The Cardinals did have a late opening, but never found the swing to change the game. Daniel Lynch IV followed Kolek with 1 2/3 scoreless innings, and Lucas Erceg worked the ninth for his 11th save.
There was also some concern in the seventh when Winn left the game after beating out a potential double play. He appeared to favor his left leg while returning to the dugout. Oliver Marmol said afterward that Winn was dealing with left knee discomfort and is considered day to day.
The Cardinals’ bullpen kept the game close. Matt Svanson recorded a scoreless inning, Justin Bruihl worked around a hit and a walk while getting one out, and Matt Pushard escaped a bases-loaded jam in the ninth, giving St. Louis one last chance in the bottom half.
But this was not a day for late magic.
Kansas City avoided the sweep, snapped a six-game losing streak and left town with one win in the series. The Cardinals still took two of three, but Sunday’s finale felt like a missed chance — not because Pallante failed them, but because the bats never answered.
St. Louis will have Monday off before opening a three-game home series Tuesday night against Pittsburgh. Matthew Liberatore is scheduled to start for the Cardinals against Mitch Keller.
The Cardinals remain 27-19, sitting third in the NL Central behind the Cubs and Brewers. The road ahead now turns back into division play, where every game carries a little more weight and every missed opportunity has a way of hanging around longer than it should.
The Cardinal Chronicle, in association with Gateway Sports