Tuesday’s Game Report: Royals 10, Cardinals 7
By Rob Rains
Andre Pallante had a 7-2 lead and had retired 13 batters in a row in the fifth inning on Tuesday night as the Cardinals battled the Royals at Busch Stadium.
Five batters later Pallante was out of the game and the Royals were headed toward a six-run inning that flipped the game and sent them to the victory in the opener of the three-game series.
Pallante gave up a home run and four consecutive singles, all of whom came around to score in the biggest inning the Cardinals have allowed this season.
The Royals scored eight unanswered runs after they were losing 7-2 after the third inning as the Cardinals’ pitching struggles continued. Over their last four games, they have allowed a combined 29 runs in losing three times.
Here is how Tuesday night’s game broke down:
At the plate: Nolan Gorman got the start as the Cardinals DH and hit a two-run homer in the second inning, his first since March 30 … The Cardinals took their early lead with a five-run third inning which included a two-run homer from Alec Burleson …They had five singles the rest of the game and stranded eight runners on base … Burleson added a pair of singles for a three-hit night … This was only the second two-homer game for the Cardinals in their last 16 games.
On the mound: Pallante also gave up a two-run homer to Bobby Witt Jr. in the first inning and has allowed 11 home runs in 66 innings this season … The seven runs charged to Pallante raised his ERA from 4.23 to 4.91 … Steven Matz relieved with two runners on base and both came around to score, saddling him with the loss … Kyle Leahy also allowed an inherited runner to score and was charged with the Royals final run.
Key stat: Ivan Herrera was 1-of-5 and has just six hits in his last 38 at-bats, a .158 average, while Victor Scott II was 0-of-4 and now has only one hit in his last 28 at-bats.
Worth noting: Michael McGreevy exited his start at Memphis on Tuesday night after 75 pitches and 4 1/3 scoreless innings, lowering his ERA to 2.78 … The Cardinals signed lefthanded reliever Tyler Matzek to a minor-league contract on Tuesday and assigned him to Memphis. Matzek, 34, has 175 games of major-league experience spread across seven seasons, including seven games with the Yankees earlier this year … To make room for Matzek on the Memphis roster, Rob Kaminsky was released … In other minor-league moves on Tuesday, outfielder Nathan Church was promoted from Springfield to Memphis, first baseman Josh Kross moved up from Palm Beach to Peoria and 18-year-old catcher Rainiel Rodriguez, who had seven homers in 19 games in the Complex League, was assigned to Palm Beach and promptly homered in his first at-bat with his new team.
Up next: Miles Mikolas will get the start on Wednesday night in the second game of the series.
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