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“Rally Cat” runs onto field one pitch before Yadi’s grand slam leads to another #STLCards win over the #Royals (VIDEO/AUDIO)

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In 2011 it was the “Rally Squirrel.” In 2017 we have the “Rally Cat.”

With the bases loaded and two outs, Yadier Molina was at the plate facing Royals reliever Peter Moylan.  KC was up 5-4, when a kitten ran out onto the field making its way to Lorenzo Cain in center field.  A Busch Stadium employee retrieved the cat and on the very next pitch, Molina hit a grand slam putting the Cardinals up for good for an 8-5 victory.

Watch the cat and the HR

It was the Cardinals fifth straight win, pushing them into a second place tie with Milwaukee and now just 1 1/2 games out of first place behind the Cubs.

Molina and Mike Matheny comment on the kitty

Jose Martinez also homered for the Cards.  Matt Bowman got the win in relief and Trevor Rosenthal posted his ninth save.

KC starter Trevor Cahill did not make it out of the third, giving up three runs on four hits and five walks.  He has an 8.18 ERA in three starts with the Royals.  Whit Merrifield had four hits and Melky Cabrera homered and drove in three runs.

#STLCards win fourth straight to gain on the Cubs. Vargas continues post All-Star slumber for the #Royals

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Jedd Gyorko’s three-run homer capped off a six-run fifth inning as the Cardinals offense continues to roll in a 10-3 win over the Royals in Kansas City.  Yadier Molina homered and drove in three and Randal Grichuk also went deep.  The Cardinals won their fourth in a row and pulled to within one game of Milwaukee for second place and now are just 2 1/2 games behind the Cubs, who lost late Tuesday night in San Francisco.

The Cardinals have won four in a row.

Meanwhile the slide continues for Jason Vargas and the Royals.  Vargas was knocked around again, giving up six runs in less than five innings.  Vargas is just 1-and-3 in his last six starts to fall to 13-and-6 overall, after entering the All-Star break with a 12-3 record.

Infielder Cheslor Cuthbert is back with the Royals.  He was recalled from Triple-A Omaha.  He started at third base, allowing Mike Moustakas to DH.  Cuthbert finished 2-for-4.  His three-run double in the fourth inning turned a 1-0 deficit into a short-lived 3-1 lead.  Cuthbert turned on a Wacha fastball that he laced down the left field corner.  Wacha ran into trouble walking two hitters, but the Cardinals’ bats quickly responded.

Grichuk homered to make it 3-2 and then Vargas was chased after hitting Matt Carpenter and giving up infield hit to Tommy Pham.  Molina put the Cardinals on top when his grounder towards third, hit the base and bounced into left field scoring two runs.  Mike Minor later gave up a three-run homer to Gyorko to cap a six-run fifth inning.

The Royals are just 3-8 following their nine-game win streak and dropped to four games behind Cleveland.  The Royals are in a three-way tie with Seattle and Tampa Bay for the second and final wild card spot.  Baltimore and Minnesota are 1 1/2 games behind, creating a five-team log jam for the final wild card spot.

#STLCards beat up on #Royals in series opener

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Matt Carpenter’s three-run homer capped a six-run fourth inning as the Cardinals cruised to an 11-3 win over the Royals in Kansas City in the first of four games between our in-state teams.  Kolten Wong and Paul DeJong added two-run shots for St. Louis, which has won three in-a-row.  Carlos Martinez pitched eight innings of two-run ball to run his record to 8-9.

Mike Moustakas, Eric Hosmer and Brandon Moss all hit solo homers for KC, which has lost six of its last eight games.  Ian Kennedy took the loss, allowing seven runs, six earned to drop to 4-8 on the season.  For Moose, it was his 32nd homer of the season, closing to within four of Steve Balboni’s franchise record of 36 in a season.

Royals All-Star catcher Salvador Perez is hoping to be back once his 10-day stint on the disabled list is up.  “Salvy” left Friday’s game with a strained right side after a swing and a miss.  Perez has been bothered by nagging issues with both sides of his torso since May.  Drew Butera has taken over behind the plate in Salvy’s absence.

Dexter Fowler was activated from the disabled list last night and went 1-for-3 with a triple, a walk and two runs scored.  Fowler had been out since July 24th with a strained left forearm.  He’s hitting .242 with 14 home runs overall.  Outfielder Stephen Piscotty was optioned to Triple-A Memphis.

The Cardinals and Royals meet again tonight in Kansas City.  Michael Wacha will start for St. Louis and Jason Vargas for the Royals.  After tonight, the two teams meet for two more games tomorrow and Thursday at Busch Stadium.

—AL Central Division —

Indians      59 50  –
Royals        57 54  3
Twins         54 56 5.5
Tigers         51 60  9
White Sox 41 68 18

—NL Central Division —

Cubs         59 52   –
Brewers   59 55   1.5
Cardinals 56 56  3.5
Pirates     55 57   4.5
Reds         46 66 13.51

#Royals add three pitchers in trade with San Diego. Yost hints team may not be done dealing (VIDEO)

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The Kansas City Royals are adding some pitching pieces for the stretch run.  They have acquired Trevor Cahill, Ryan Buchter (Book-ter) and Brandon Maurer from the San Diego Padres for pitchers Matt Strahm, Travis Wood, minor league infield prospect Esteury Ruiz and cash.

The Royals also designated pitchers Al Alburquerque and Luke Farrell for assignment, while recalling Brian Flynn from Triple-A Omaha.  Cahill was 4-and-3 with a 3.69 ERA in 11 starts with San Diego.  When asked following Monday night’s win over Detroit if Cahill would be the team’s number five starter, manager Ned Yost responded,

“Yeah, for right now.”

GM Dayton Moore may not be done wheeling and dealing.

Buchter was 3-and-3 with a 3.05 ERA and 47 strikeouts in 38-and-a-third innings out of the pen.  He also had one save.  Maurer was 1-and-4 with a 5.72 ERA and 20 saves for San Diego.  The 25-year-old Strahm was 2-and-5 with a 5.45 ERA in 24 games, but is out for the season following knee surgery.  Wood was 1-and-3 with a 6.91 ERA in 28 games.

Here’s a taste of what Buchter can do on the mound.

Long ball ends Wacha’s personal four-game win streak as #STLCards drop series to Cubs

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Cubs catcher Willson Contreras hit a tiebreaking two-run homer of Michael Wacha, and Chicago beat the Cardinals 5-3 on Sunday night.  The loss snapped a personal four-game win streak for Michael Wacha as the Cardinals wrapped up this ten-game road trip 4-6.  If there is a silver lining after this first trip back from the All-Star break, the Cardinals moved from down 5 1/2 games to 4 1/2 games in the division.

The downside is the Pirates moved past the Cardinals for third place and as the club returns home for a seven-game homestand, they face Colorado and Arizona, the wild card front runners from the NL West.

Coming off his first career shutout, Wacha (7-4) was charged with five runs and six hits in six innings in his first loss since May 30. The right-hander was 4-0 with a 1.01 ERA in his previous four starts.  Wacha was up 3-2 in the fourth after a Paul DeJong homer, but Kyle Schwarber tied it in the bottom half of the inning.  That was the score when Kris Bryant hit a leadoff double in the sixth.  With one out, Contreras just cleared the wall in left for his 15th of the year to put the Cubs in front.

“I fell behind a couple of guys and didn’t make a pitch on a few guys when I needed to,” Wacha said. “That pretty much cost us.”

Randal Grichuk hit a two-run homer for the Cardinals.  Since his return from the DL, he went 5-for-11 with three homers and five RBIs in this series.

Second walk-off win of the weekend gives Royals a sweep of the White Sox

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Brandon Moss hit a game-ending double off Tyler Clippard that lifted the Kansas City Royals over the White Sox 5-4 Sunday at Kauffman Stadium.  The home runs continued for KC.  Whit Merrifield, Jorge Bonifacio and Eric Hosmer hit consecutive home runs off Derek Holland in the fourth inning for a 3-0 lead, and Merrifield hit hit his second of the game in the eighth off Dan Jennings to tie the score at 4-4.

The Sox answered with four runs in the fifth off Travis Wood who was pulled at 4 2/3 innings.

In the ninth, Mike Moustakas singled off Gregory Infante (0-1) and pinch-runner Lorenzo Cain advanced on a wild pitch and scored on the Moss double.

The Royals have won five straight despite some shaky starting pitching.  The bullpen has come up big, now extending it’s scoreless innings streak to 18 over the last five games.  The Royals have won five in a row after coming off a 1-7 skid.  Four of their six wins on the ten game homestead were walkoff wins.

 

Moose powers Royals past White Sox

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Mike Moustakas homered twice, and Salvador Perez, Brandon Moss and Jorge Bonifacio also went deep to lead the Kansas City Royals over the White Sox 7-2 Saturday night at Kauffman Stadium.  At 49-47, the Royals are tied with Minnesota 1 1/2 games behind Cleveland.

After being held to two hits into the sixth inning, the Royals exploded for five runs on three homers.

David Holmberg (1-3) relieved starter Mike Pelfrey and got Eric Hosmer on a flyout.  Holmberg was tagged for three homers in his next eight pitches.   Perez hit a two-run homer that tied the game 2-2, Moustakas homered two pitches later, Alcides Escobar grounded out and Moss homered for a 4-2 lead. Whit Merrifield added an RBI single off Juan Minaya.

Bonifacio homered in the seventh, and Moustakas hit his 28th this season leading off the eighth against Brad Goldberg. Kansas City’s five homers matched a season high.

Final high school baseball rankings for 2017

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The Missouri High School Baseball Coaches Association released its final state baseball rankings earlier this week. The final state rankings are listed below:

CLASS 1

1. Bell City

2. Wellsville

3. La Plata

4. Hurley

5. Eminence

6. St. Elizabeth

7. Northeast Nodaway

8. Halfway

9. Cooter

10. Pilot Grove

Others receiving votes: Northwestern (Mendon), Dora, Valley, Stanta Fe, St. Joseph, Bellard

CLASS 2

1. Manfield

2. Canton

3. Lincoln

4. St. Vincent

5. Galena

6. Russellville

7. Adrian

8. South Pemiscot

9. Hartville

10. Sturgeon

Others receiving votes: Concordia, Van-Far, McAuley Catholic, Linn, Marion C. Early, Van Buren

CLASS 3

1. South Callaway

2. Valley Park

3. West County

4. Knob Noster

5. Strafford

6. Palmyra

7. Portageville

8. MidBuchanan

9. Mountain Grove

10. Lutheran North

Others receiving votes: Twin Rivers, Hancock, Hallsville, Stockton, Summit, Christian, Lawson

CLASS 4

1. Aurora

2. Lutheran South

3. Westminster Christian Academy

4. Pleasant Hill

5. Helias Catholic

6. Sikeston

7. Winfield

8. Smithville

9. Monett

10. Boonville

CLASS 5

1. Jefferson City

2. Fort Zumwalt West

3. Vianney

4. Lee’s Summit

5. Platte County

6. Rockwood Summit

7. Liberty North

8. Willard

9. Kickapoo

10. Poplar Bluff

Royals find some offense to back strong pitching – Hosmer “We needed this”

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Kansas City starter Nate Karns struck out 10 in six-plus innings, Eric Hosmer had three hits and several Royals hitters had good nights as the Royals beat the Tampa Bay Rays 7-3 on Monday night.  The Royals matched their season high for runs and set a season high with 13 hits.  Drew Butera homered and called a great game behind the plate.  Alcides Escobar, Lorenzo Cain, Salvador Perez and Whit Merrifield all had two hits each.

“A lot of guys had some good nights,” Hosmer said. “We needed a night like this.”

Karns (2-2) left after 6 1/3 innings, allowing just two runs on six hits and two walks while matching his career high in strikeouts.  In all, Royals pitching struck out Tampa Bay hitters 16 times.  The Rays lead the majors with 346 strikeouts, an average of just over ten per game.

Karns gave credit to the backup catcher, who not only did damage with his bat, but calling the game.

“I followed Drew back there,” Karns said. “I think I shook him off maybe one time. He had a good feel for them and I just followed his glove around the whole game.”

Tommy Pham caps off first weekend with game winning homer in 14th

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Tommy Pham had one incredible weekend in Atlanta.  In his first three games back in the majors, Pham went 6-for-12 with three homers and five RBIs against the Braves  and hit the game deciding two-run homer off  Atlanta reliever Josh Collmenter to give the Cardinals a 6-4, 14-inning win on Sunday afternoon at SunTrust Park to complete the three-game sweep.

Pham put together a career-high four hits, including two homers, who made his season debut on Friday.

This game came down to the bullpen for both teams.  The Braves were solid and the Cardinals bent, but didn’t break.  Atlanta’s bullpen allowed just one hit over seven scoreless innings before Pham’s game-winner.  Meanwhile, the Braves stranded seven runners during the extra innings and lost on a replay review by inches in the 11th as Ender Inciarte was called out on his two-out, bases-loaded grounder to first after Seung Hwan Oh just beat Inciarte’s foot to the bag after fielding a high throw from Matt Carpenter.

However, the weekend belonged to Pham.

“I was joking around saying, ‘We don’t get paid for overtime, so let’s go.’ I was pumped to come through. It’s not like you can keep sending guys out to pitch in extras. Our bullpen is doing the job for us. They’re holding the game. We have to pick them up.”