After winning Phase One of the I-70 Series in Kansas City last week, the Kansas City Royals open Phase Two by taking the first of three games with the St. Louis Cardinals 5-3 Monday night at Busch Stadium in St. Louis.
Mark Teahen, Emil Brown, and Ryan Shealy each had two hits on the night. John Buck had one hit, but it was a big one, a solo home run for his 13 th home run of the season.
Scott Rolen homered for the Cardinals in a losing cause, his 4 th roundtripper of the year. So Taguchi had three hits, while Scott Spiezio added two.
Kansas City starter Odalis Perez (4-7) pitched six innings for the win, giving up three earned runs on six hits. Octavio Dotel pitched one inning, striking out two batters, to earn his 6 th save. St. Louis starter Adam Wainwright (5-6) gave up four earned runs on nine hits in seven innings of work to take the loss.
The Royals (29-42) and Cardinals (30-37) play again Tuesday night at Busch Stadium. Scott Elarton (2-2) pitches for the Royals against the Redbirds’ Kip Wells (2-11).