SB Nation St. Louis - Cardinals Vs. Royals: St. Louis Finishes Off Sweep Of Kansas City

Cardinals Vs. Royals Final Score: St. Louis Completes The Sweep Against Kansas City

2012-06-24T21:27:20Z

The St. Louis Cardinals completed their first sweep since May 23 with an 11-8 victory over the Kansas City Royals at Kauffman Stadium on Sunday. The Cards have now won four of their last five games and sit at 38-35 on the season. Kansas City falls to 31-39 with the loss.

Carlos Beltran put an exclamation point on a great series by hitting a three-run homer, his 20th of the year, to start the scoring in the top of the first inning. Kansas City shortstop Mike Moustakas would answer with a two-run homer of his own in the bottom half of the frame, and then added another homer in the fourth, his 12th of the year. It was that kind of back-and-forth game until a four-run eighth inning by St. Louis pushed the Cards ahead for good.

Third baseman David Freese, second baseman Daniel Descalso, right fielder Allen Craig and Holliday each drove in runs in the eighth.

St. Louis starter Lance Lynn was tagged for nine hits and six earned runs over 5.1 innings.

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Cardinals Vs. Royals Score Update: St. Louis, Kansas City Tied 6-6

2012-06-24T20:12:23Z

The St. Louis Cardinals and Kansas City Royals are tied 6-6 after six innings on Sunday afternoon at Kauffman Stadium. With Kansas City starter Jonathan Sanchez struggling with his command, St. Louis has managed to put up six runs despite knocking only four hits.

Sanchez lasted just 5.2 innings for the Royals, but he managed to walk six batters and allow a pair of home runs. Mike Moustakas has a couple of homers for Kansas Cit, one of four Royals hitters with two hits on the day, but the Cardinals have come through with timely hits.

All four of the Cardinals hits on the day have been extra base hits: a first-inning homer by Carlos Beltran, a first-inning double by Allen Craig, a second-inning double by Matt Holliday and a sixth-inning homer by Yadier Molina. Sanchez made numerous mistakes on the day, and the Cardinals took advantage of them early, but Lance Lynn hasn't been at his best, either.

Cardinals Vs. Royals Lineup: Jon Jay Sitting On Sunday

2012-06-24T16:03:35Z

The St. Louis Cardinals have been crushing the ball this weekend in Kansas City, and with one notable exception, the lineup that has produced those runs will more or less be intact in the series' final game. That exception would be St. Louis centerfielder Jon Jay, who will take the day off today as he eases his way back from the DL. Jay will also avoid tough lefty Jonathan Sanchez.

Here are the lineups for both teams heading into today's game:

Cardinals

Royals

Cardinals Vs. Royals Preview: Lynn Leads Way For St. Louis

2012-06-24T15:19:12Z

The St. Louis Cardinals have bludgeoned the Kansas City Royals this weekend by a combined score of 19-6, and if they hit anywhere near as good as they have in those two games, they'll likely leave Kansas City with a sweep. Hoping to be a beneficiary of St. Louis' hot bats is starter Lance Lynn, who will take the hill looking for his 11th win of the season.

Lynn's ERA has ticked up slightly in June, and he is coming off his worse start of the season, having given up five earned runs in five innings to the Detroit Tigers this past Tuesday. The Royals, though, are no Detroit Tigers, and in his other interleague start this season, Lynn shutout the Chicago White Sox across 7.1 innings.

The Cardinals will be facing Royals starter Jonathan Sanchez. Sanchez, who was acquired by Kansas City in a trade this offseason that shipped Melky Cabrera to San Francisco, has been a disappointment this season, with an ERA hovering around six. That said, he has been better in his two most recent starts, giving up only four earned runs in 11 innings.

Game date/time: 1:10 p.m. CT

Location: Kaufmann Stadium, Kansas City, Mo.

TV: FSN Midwest

Cardinals Vs. Royals Final: Adam Wainwright, Strong Offense Combine In St. Louis Win

2012-06-23T22:20:39Z

Another strong pitching performance by St. Louis Cardinals starter Adam Wainwright kept the Kansas City Royals at bay while the offense continued to chip in a run or two per inning, giving the Cardinals an 8-2 victory at Kaufmann Stadium on Saturday.

Wainwright (6-7) went seven innings in the start, only allowing two runs in the sixth inning. The ace struck out four and walked one in his strong performance. The game started off well for Kansas City's starter Luis Mendoza. The righty allowed only one run in the first four innings but then collapsed at the start of the fifth and allowed three more, eventually being pulled.

That four run lead ended up being enough for Wainwright and the Cards, as that lead was never relinquished.

After getting runs from Alex Gordon and Yuniesky Betancourt in the bottom of the sixth, the Royals pitching didn't help the comeback attempt by giving St. Louis the two runs right back in the seventh. After adding another in the eighth, the Cardinals took the 8-2 win.

St. Louis' offense was paced by Allen Craig, who led the team with three RBI. Matt Holliday also raked with four hits and two RBI.

Cardinals Vs. Royals Score Update: St. Louis Leads 4-0 After 5 Innings

2012-06-23T19:49:25Z

The St. Louis Cardinals lead the Kansas City Royals 4-0 after five innings on Saturday afternoon at Kauffman Stadium. This is the middle game of a three-game series between the Missouri rivals.

Designated hitter Matt Holliday got the scoring started with an RBI single to center field that scored shortstop Rafael Furcal. The 1-0 lead would hold until the Cards scored three runs in the top of the fifth. Center fielder Jon Jay started the inning with an RBI single to right to score second baseman Daniel Descalso. After Fural scored again on an infield single by Holliday, Carlos Beltran would drive in Jay with a shot to right.

Cards starter Adam Wainwright has allowed two hits through five innings while striking out three. Royals starter Luis Mendoza was chased after 4.1 innings.

Cardinals Vs. Royals Preview: Adam Wainwright Takes The Hill At Kauffman Stadium

2012-06-23T13:41:19Z

The St. Louis Cardinals took the series opener from the Kansas City Royals in convincing fashion with an 11-4 victory on Friday night. On Saturday afternoon, the two teams will meet again at Kauffman Stadium when Adam Wainwright opposes Royals righty Luis Mendoza.

Wainwright has been starting to get back on track recently, allowing a combined total of six runs over his last three starts. The 30-year right-handed pitcher enters at 5-7 with a 4.46 ERA and 1.31 WHIP.

Mendoza is set to make his eighth start of the year. The 28-year old is 2-3 with a 4.69 ERA and 1.60 WHIP.

Date / Time: 1:10 p.m. CT

Location: Kauffman Stadium, Kansas City, Mo.

TV: Fox Sports Midwest

Cardinals Vs. Royals Final Score: Cards Crush Royals In Game 1

2012-06-23T03:54:24Z

The St. Louis Cardinals didn't score after the fourth inning on Friday night, but in those first four innings they put 11 runs, and that was more than enough to defeat the Kansas City Royals on Friday night. In fact, by the time the top of the second inning commenced, St. Louis had already put up 10 runs, knocking out Royals starter Vin Mazzaro en route to an 11-4 victory.

St. Louis was led by the red hot Carlos Beltran, who picked up two doubles and four RBI in those first two innings. Yadier Molina and Matt Carpenter both also picked up RBI in the first inning, with David Freese and Tyler Greene each picking up two RBI in the second inning with doubles. Skip Schumaker capped off the scoring for St. Louis with a double of his own in the fourth.

St. Louis starter Joe Kelly picked up the first win of his career after holding the Royals to three runs and nine hits over six innings. Relievers Sam Freeman, Eduardo Sanchez and Fernando Salas finished out the game's final three innings, with only the latter giving up a run.

The two teams will battle again on Saturday afternoon starting at 1:10 p.m. CT.