Cards Beat Royals In I-70 Series Opener

Round one of the I-70 series belongs to the Cardinals. The Redbirds built an early 5-0 lead, and held for a 7-6 win over the Royals. St. Louis jumped on top in the first as John Mabry belted his first career grand slam. Mabry added an RBI double in the top of the third to put the Cardinals ahead 5-0. K.C. responded in the bottom of the third. The Royals loaded the bases for Mike Sweeney, who cleared them with a three-run double. Kansas City pulled to within a run in the eighth on a throwing error by David Eckstein. But Jason Isringhausen threw a scoreless ninth to seal the win for St. Louis. Despite a rough outing, Mark Mulder improved to 6-1 for the Cardinals. Mulder gave up four runs on seven hits in five and two-thirds innings. The lefty also walked five batters. Zack Greinke fell to 0-5 for Kansas City. He surrendered six runs in five innings.