Leahy Settles In, Cards Beat Royals Again to Set Up Sunday Sweep Chance

Cardinal Chronicle
Cardinals 4, Royals 2
St. Louis, MO
By Ray Mileur

Leahy Settles In, Cardinals Beat Royals Again to Set Up Sunday Sweep Chance

The Cardinals did not need late-inning thunder Saturday afternoon. They needed a steady start, clean defense, situational hitting and a bullpen that could finish what Kyle Leahy started.

That was enough.

St. Louis beat Kansas City, 4-2, at Busch Stadium, taking the first two games of the I-70 Series and putting itself in position to sweep the Royals in Sunday’s finale. The win moved the Cardinals to 27-18 and continued a stretch in which they have played winning baseball with the kind of practical, old-school formula that usually holds up: throw strikes, move runners, cash in chances and make the other club earn everything.

Leahy delivered one of his better starts of the season, working six innings and allowing one run on five hits. He walked three, struck out two and improved to 5-3. It was not overpowering, but it was effective. The Royals had traffic, including a bases-loaded threat in the second inning, but Leahy kept the inning from getting away and allowed the Cardinals to stay in control.

The Cardinals struck first in the bottom of the first. Ivan Herrera doubled, Jordan Walker singled, and Alec Burleson lifted a sacrifice fly to bring Herrera home for a 1-0 lead.

Kansas City tied the game in the fifth inning when Maikel Garcia doubled and Vinnie Pasquantino followed with an RBI single. But the Cardinals answered immediately in the bottom half, and that response proved to be the difference.

Thomas Saggese opened the inning with a single, breaking out of a long hitless stretch, and Nathan Church followed with a double to put runners at second and third. Victor Scott II put the ball in play and brought Saggese home on a fielder’s choice, giving the Cardinals the lead back. (Scott II on second reference may be shortened to Scott.) Masyn Winn then added a sacrifice fly to score Church and push St. Louis ahead 3-1.

It was not flashy baseball. It was winning baseball.

Burleson added insurance in the eighth with a two-out RBI single, scoring Winn and giving the Cardinals a 4-1 cushion. Burleson finished with two RBIs, while Church and Scott each had two hits.

The Royals made some noise in the ninth when Jac Caglianone led off with his fifth home run of the season against George Soriano, cutting the lead to 4-2. Isaac Collins followed with a single, bringing the tying run to the plate. Soriano settled in and got Kyle Isbel to ground into a game-ending double play.

Gordon Graceffo and Justin Bruihl bridged the gap after Leahy, helping the Cardinals protect the lead into the ninth. It was another strong example of a staff finding ways to cover innings even while the rotation continues to work through its limitations.

The Cardinals also activated Rule 5 right-hander Matt Pushard before the game, bringing him back from the 15-day injured list after a rehab assignment with Triple-A Memphis. Left-hander Jared Shuster was designated for assignment in the corresponding move.

Kansas City has now lost six straight, while the Cardinals have won the first two games of the weekend series after Friday night’s 11-inning walk-off win. St. Louis will go for the sweep Sunday afternoon with Andre Pallante scheduled to start against Stephen Kolek.

For a club trying to prove that its early-season promise is more than a passing hot streak, Saturday was another useful marker. The Cardinals did not overwhelm Kansas City. They simply played cleaner, tougher and better in the moments that mattered.

That will win a lot of ballgames.

The Cardinal Chronicle, in association with Gateway Sports