Kansas City Scores 8 Unanswered to Take Game One From St. Louis 10-7

Football score!

Despite home runs from Alec Burleson and Nolan Gorman powering St. Louis (33-27) to an early 7-2 lead, the Cardinals allowed the Kansas City Royals (32-29) to score eight unanswered runs en route to a 10-7 win.

Fireworks were in the air early and often as Bobby Witt gave the Royals a quick 2-0 lead in the first inning, taking the first pitch from Andre Pallante to centerfield.

St. Louis wouldn’t wait too long to respond, however. Pallante got Kanas City to go down in order in the second inning, and Gorman went deep to center to tie the game at two. Gorman’s bomb was very nearly a Kyle Isbel web gem as the KC centerfielder got a glove on it, but couldn’t get enough of the ball to pull it back in.

Things got fun for St. Louis in the third innings as the Cards plated five runs to grab what should’ve been an insurmountable 7-2 lead. Wilson Contreras broke the 2-2 tie with a ground rule double and in the process collected his 500th career RBI. One batter later and with runners on second and third, Nolan Arenado hit an infield single to third base to score a run, but an errant throw by third basemen Maikel Garcia allowed Arenado to reach second and Contreras to come home and make it a 5-2 game.

Burleson followed Arenado with an eight-pitch at-bat that resulted in a two-run home run to ahem blow the game open.

Except usually when teams quote/unquote blow games open, they tend to actually win them. That wouldn’t be the case tonight as Pallante imploded in the fifth inning to the tune of six runs and seven hits.

Nick Loftin got the rally started with a solo home run to cut St. Louis’s lead down to four. With the bases loaded and only one out, Bobby Witt Jr. continued his onslaught of Busch Stadium with a two-run single to make it a 7-5 game. Witt ended the night going 2-4 with four RBI and also drew a walk. That single by Witt also ended Pallante’s night (4.1 IP, 7 H, 7 ER), and he handed the ball to Steven Matz.

Matz did a good job retiring the first batter he faced for the second out of the inning, but Vinnie Pasquantino tied the game with a two-run double. One batter later the Pasquatch was driven home by Salvador Perez to give the Royals a lead that, this time, they made sure to hold on to.

St. Louis responded meekly in the home half of that disastrous fifth inning by going three up, three down, and Kansas City rode the momentum into the sixth and tacked on two more runs to make it a 10-7 game.

To their credit, the Cardinals had multiple opportunities to tie the game. St. Louis had the tying run at the plate in the sixth, seventh, and ninth innings, but the Kansas City bullpen turned away the Cardinals each and every time.

St. Louis and Kansas City will pick back up tomorrow night, with first pitch scheduled for 6:45. The Royals will give the ball to Noah Cameron (2-1, 1.05 ERA 25.2 IP), while St. Louis turns to Miles Mikolas (4-2, 3.90 ERA, 55.1 IP).