Thursday’s Game Report: Royals 14, Cardinals 6
By Rob Rains
The Royals had doubles of fun on Thursday night in the opener of their three-game series against the Cardinals in Kansas City.
A six-run second inning, which included five of their eight doubles, knocked starter Matthew Liberatore out of the game before the assault continued against the Cardinals’ bullpen.
The eight doubles, plus three home runs, were part of a 17-hit attack. The Royals scored in six of the eight innings they batted, had eight players drive in at least one run and nine who scored at least one run.
Liberatore also gave up one of the home runs, to Bobby Witt Jr., in the first inning and retired only five of the 13 hitters he faced.
The game did feature the major-league debut of Max Rajcic, who allowed a solo home run during his two innings of work.
Here is how Thursday night’s game broke down:
At the plate: The Cardinals actually jumped out to a 2-1 lead after the first inning … They had 13 hits of their own, including three each from JJ Wetherholt and Masyn Winn. Wetherholt also drew a pair of walks to go along with a double and two singles, reaching base five times … Alec Burleson had a sacrifice fly and drew a walk but saw his career-high 17-game hitting streak come to an end … Jose Fermin, who got the start in center field, drove in two runs and had a pair of singles … Jordan Walker had a pair of singles and drew his first walk in 72 plate appearances in June … Ivan Herrera was hit by a pitch for the 20th time this season.
On the mound: This was the second time in 68 career starts that Liberatore has allowed seven runs in a game, both of which have come against the Royals. He allowed seven runs in four innings in a start against Kansas City last season … Two of the runs off Liberatore were unearned because of a fielding error by Nelson Velazquez … The Royals added four runs off Gordon Graceffo, the one run off Rajcic and two runs off Justin Bruihl.
Key stat: This was only the second time in the last 10 years the Cardinals allowed eight doubles in a game (also last year at Boston) and the 11 extra-base hits tied the franchise record for the most the Cardinals allowed in a game, only the second time it had happened since 2001.
Worth noting: Rajcic’s contract was purchased from Memphis after Chris Roycroft was designated for assignment. Rajcic was selected by the Cardinals in the sixth round of the 2022 draft out of UCLA. At Memphis this season he was 4-2 with a 2.88 ERA … At Memphis on Thursday night Joshua Baez hit another home run, his 24th of the season.
Up next: Michael McGreevy will get the start on Friday night in the second game of the series. It will be televised exclusively by Apple TV.
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