Royals bullpen holds strong in win over Cardinals
Jun 5, 2025; St. Louis, Missouri, USA; Kansas City Royals catcher Freddy Fermin (34) is congratulated by first baseman Salvador Perez (13) after hitting a solo home run against the St. Louis Cardinals during the third inning at Busch Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Curry-Imagn Images Maikel Garcia hit a two-run homer and scored three times to lead the visiting Kansas City Royals past the St. Louis Cardinals 7-5 Thursday in the second half of a split doubleheader.
The Cardinals rallied to win the first game 6-5 in 10 innings.
Salvador Perez drove in two runs for the Royals in Game 2 and Freddy Fermin hit a solo homer.
Royals starting pitcher Cole Ragans allowed five runs on five hits and three walks in three innings. He struck out four.
Angel Zerpa (3-0) threw three scoreless innings, Steven Cruz blanked the Cardinals for two innings and Carlos Estevez closed out the game for his 18th save.
Willson Contreras went 2-for-4 with a run and three RBIs and Nolan Arenado hit a two-run homer for the Cardinals.
St. Louis starting pitcher Matthew Liberatore (3-5) allowed seven runs on eight hits in four innings.
Kansas City took a 2-0 lead in the first inning when Bobby Witt Jr. hit a single and Garcia launched his homer.
The Cardinals cut the lead to 2-1 in the bottom of the inning on a walk by Lars Nootbaar, then singles from Masyn Winn and Contreras.
The Royals increased their lead to 5-1 in the third inning. Fermin's homer started the rally and a single by Jonathan India, a double by Garcia, Vinny Pasquantino's run-scoring groundout and Perez's RBI single completed it.
But the Cardinals tied the game 5-5 in the bottom of the inning. Winn walked, Brendan Donovan hit a single, Contreras hit a two-run double, and Arenado hit his two-run homer.
Kansas City retook the lead 6-5 in the fourth inning with doubles by Mark Canha and Nick Loftin.
The Royals made it 7-5 in the fifth when Garcia walked, stole second, took third on a groundout and scored on Perez's single.
--Field Level Media


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