Royals bullpen holds strong in win over Cardinals

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


- Bengals vs. Broncos Monday Night Football Week 4 Betting Predictions
- Jets vs. Dolphins Monday Night Football Week 4 Betting Predictions
- Packers vs. Cowboys Sunday Night Football Week 4 Betting Predictions
- Vikings vs. Steelers NFL Ireland Week 4 Betting Picks and Predictions
- Top 10 NFL Player Prop Bets for Week 4: Chris Godwin, Derrick Henry & More
- UFC Perth Predictions: Carlos Ulberg vs. Dominick Reyes & Jimmy Crute vs. Ivan Erslan Best Bets
- College Football Week 5 Best Bets: Ohio State, Ole Miss, Alabama Picks
