In the second game of the “I-70 Series”, the St. Louis Cardinals and Kansas City Royals faced off on Tuesday night at Kaufman Stadium. St. Louis was looking to bounce back from a disappointing 6-2 loss the night before.
Thanks to quality pitching and timely hitting, they did just that.
The Cardinals were going up against Yordano Ventura, who was making his first start since his suspension.
Right away, Ventura shut the visitors down on 12 pitches. But in the top of the second inning, trouble began to ensue. He allowed three hits and two walks, and three Cardinals (Yadier Molina, Greg Garcia, and Kolten Wong) were able to score, to immediately make it 3-0.
In the top of the third inning, with the score then being 3-2, Matt Carpenter blasted a solo shot to give the Cardinals a two-run lead. With two outs in the same inning, Matt Adams hit a sacrifice fly to make it 5-2.
It would only increase from there.
RBI’s later in the game from Carpenter, Brandon Moss, and Matt Holliday made it an 8-2 game, which knocked Venture out for the evening.
On the evening, Ventura allowed seven runs on seven hits, three walks and a hit batter in 5 1/3 innings for the Royals. Over his last two starts, he had only allowed one run combined. Both starts had come before an eight-game suspension for his role in a benches-clearing brawl during a game on June 7th against the Orioles.
His contemporary pitcher, Michael Wacha, had yet another successful outing) . He allowed four runs over six innings, and he also gave up nine hits while issuing three walks. It was his second straight win after dropping seven consecutive decisions to start the 2016 season.
Seung-Hwan Oh closed the game in a non-save situation. It was Oh’s first appearance as a closer since taking over for Trevor Rosenthal last week.
The two teams now begin a two-game battle in St. Louis.
