A five run first inning powered the Kansas City Royals onto an 8-1 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals in the first game of the I-70 series at Kaufman Stadium last night. Brian Bannister pitched seven scoreless innings in the victory for KC while Brad Thompson took the loss. Esteban German drove in three runs for the Royals with Mark Teahen and Jason LaRue both adding two RBI nights. The lone tally for St. Louis came on a Ryan Ludwick pinch-hit homer. The Royals have now won 3 of 4 with the Cards dropping 4 of 5. Game 2 of the series is tonight with Odalis Perez starting for Kansas City against the Cards Adam Wainwright
