The game turned in the second inning. St. Louis led 2-1 entering it, and by the time it was over, Kansas City had scored six times and the Cardinals were chasing a deficit they would never close. The Royals finished with 14 runs on 17 hits, a thorough beating of a St. Louis club that came in with a winning record.
The second inning belonged to the entire KC lineup, but the sequence that mattered most came early in it. Carter Jensen doubled to left to score Salvador Perez and tie the game at 2-2. Then Isaac Collins doubled to left, scoring Jensen to give Kansas City the lead it would not relinquish. The rally continued: Collins scored on a fielding error, Starling Marte doubled to right to score Bobby Witt, and by the time the inning ended, the Royals led 7-2. Collins went 2-for-5 with an RBI. Jensen finished 2-for-5 with two doubles and an RBI. Marte was 3-for-5 with a double and an RBI.
Kansas City kept adding. In the fourth, Jac Caglianone homered to left center — 402 feet — with Tyler Tolbert aboard, a two-run shot that pushed the lead to 9-3. Nick Loftin then doubled to left, scoring Jensen and Marte to make it 11-3. Caglianone finished 1-for-5 with 2 RBI. Loftin was 2-for-5 with two doubles and 2 RBI. Bobby Witt had homered to left center in the first — 419 feet — and singled home a run in the second, finishing 2-for-2 with a home run and 2 RBI. Perez went 3-for-5 with a home run and an RBI, adding a solo shot to left in the sixth.
Matthew Liberatore absorbed the damage. The St. Louis left-hander lasted just 1.2 innings, allowing 7 runs — 5 earned — on 7 hits, falling to 3-4 with a 5.23 ERA. Noah Cameron worked 5.0 innings for Kansas City, giving up 4 runs (3 earned) on 8 hits with 6 strikeouts, earning his fourth win against four losses. His ERA: 4.20.
Kansas City improved to 30-45 with the victory. St. Louis dropped to 40-32. Starling Marte, who drove in a run and doubled in the win, is 5 doubles away from 300 career doubles.