Matt Holliday's late home run—his second in three games since returning from the 15-day disabled list—put the St. Louis Cardinals on top against the Kansas City Royals, and this time Fernando Salas held on for the save, cutting the Cardinals' losing skid at seven games. Wearing Red Schoendienst's pants as part of a slump-busting exorcism Holliday, whose batting average now stands at .354, hit a long home run onto the batter's eye to put the Cardinals up by a run in the eighth inning after a series of brilliant defensive plays by the Kansas City Royals allowed them to hold onto their narrow lead.
Holliday also doubled, along with Ryan Theriot and Albert Pujols, to drive the Cardinals' offense, while Jason Motte, Trever Miller, and Fernando Salas combined for two scoreless innings from the bullpen to protect Jake Westbrook's seven-inning, four-run performance—one of his better outings of the year, spoiled by a late home run from Alex Gordon.
Vin Mazzaro, who took one of the worst beatings in the Major Leagues earlier in the season, looked strong for the Royals, who fall to 31-40 on the season. The Cardinals improve to 39-33, though they remain one game back of the MIlwaukee Brewers in the NL Central.