ST. LOUIS (AP) Drew Butera had a two-run single in the 10th inning and the Kansas City Royals earned a 5-2 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals on Wednesday.
Buteras RBIs were his first since May 2. Jon Jay followed with an RBI single as the Royals won their first series since taking three of four from Detroit May 3-6.
Salvador Perez hammered a first-pitch fastball by Cardinals starter Michael Wacha for his eighth home run of the season to lead off the second.
Royals starter Jakob Junis gave up two runs in five innings, while striking out seven.
Blaine Boyer (2-0) pitched a scoreless ninth for the win. Kelvin Herrera earned his 10th save with a perfect 10th.
Abraham Almonte scored on a sacrifice fly in the sixth to tie it 2-2.
Wacha retired 14 of the first 15 batters he faced. He gave up two runs, one earned, in 6 2/3 innings.
Bud Norris (1-1) pitched a perfect ninth, but couldnt record an out in the 10th, giving up back-to-back singles to Jorge Soler and Alex Gordon before compounding the issue by committing an error on Alcides Escobars sacrifice attempt to load the bases ahead of Butera.
Francisco Pena capped a two-run second inning with an RBI double, giving the Cardinals a 2-1 lead. Pena had a pair of hits after going 1-for-12 the previous three games.
WEB GEMS
Cardinals center fielder Tommy Pham robbed Jorge Soler of an extra-base hit with a running catch in the seventh. Pham, who was shading Soler to left-center, made the catch in straightaway center on the warning track before hitting the wall.
Not to be outdone, Royals left fielder Alex Gordon made a diving catch on Penas liner in the bottom of the seventh, robbing the Cardinals catcher of his third hit of the game.
LATE SCRATCH
Cardinals left fielder Mar-cell Ozuna was a late scratch from the lineup and was replaced by Tyler ONeill, because of a managers decision. Ozuna was hitting .714 (5 for 7) with a walk in his previous two games.
TRAINING ROOM
Royals: 1B Lucas Duda (right foot plantar fasciitis) is eligible to come off the 10-day disabled list today.
Cardinals: RHP Alex Reyes (right elbow surgery) is scheduled to make his final rehab start at Triple-A Memphis today. LHP Tyler Lyons (mid back strain) threw a bullpen and will make the trip to Pittsburgh.
UP NEXT
Royals: LHP Danny Duffy (1-6, 6.88 ERA) will kick off a four game series at Texas today. Duffy is 1-4 with a 6.82 ERA in six road starts.
