10-30-2018, 09:16 AM
KANSAS CITY http://www.oriolesfanproshop.com/authent...eph-jersey , Mo. (AP) — Jack Flaherty got a lift from St. Louis’ lineup, and the rookie right-hander made the most of it.Flaherty struck out nine in seven innings, and the Cardinals beat the Kansas City Royals 8-3 on Saturday night for their fourth straight win.Harrison Bader and Jose Martinez each hit a two-run homer, helping the Cardinals move seven games above .500 for the first time since June 12. They are 15-9 since Mike Shildt was named interim manager on July 15.“It’s a lot easier when the offense goes out and gets you four runs, gets you ahead like that,” Flaherty said. “And then, you give up two and they get two right back. You look up and you’ve got a four-run lead again. Offense did their thing tonight.”Bader drove a full-count pitch over the wall in left with Jedd Gyorko aboard in the sixth. Danny Duffy (7-11) came close to striking out Bader earlier in the bat, but first base umpire Adam Hamari ruled Bader did not go around on a check swing.When manager Ned Yost came out to remove Duffy after the homer, the pitcher headed for Hamari instead of the dugout. Pitching coach Cal Eldred had to restrain Duffy, who was ejected by Hamari.“He missed that call,” Duffy said. “It was so blatant that he went. I was upset with the missed call and I let it out. I didn’t think it was enough to walk toward me, to instigate it, which he did, baited me for sure. It’s not what lost us the game. It certainly isn’t. I didn’t pitch a good game.”Bader had a different view, saying “a hundred percent” he checked his swing.“He made the right call,” Bader said.Bader said he was “just reacting” on his homer.“Loading up early to make sure that I could hit everything, because he has a big arsenal,” Bader said. “With two strikes he expands a lot, so I was just loading up early and he left something up and I just put a good swing on it.”Duffy indicated his arm is not feeling the best.“I looked up when I was rarin’ back for a normal 95-96 (mph fastball) and I saw 87 up there Roberto Alomar Jersey ,” Duffy said. “I don’t think it’s a mystery that I don’t feel great, but I’m not going to run from it. I’m used to throwing in the mid-90s and I’m not. I’m not a doctor. I can’t diagnose what’s going on, but whatever it is we’ll get through it and I’ll be fine.”Flaherty (6-6) was charged with two runs and three hits. Martinez connected in the ninth and drove in three runs.The Cardinals (62-55) scored four runs after Duffy retired the first two batters in the third.Yadier Molina sparked the rally by finishing a 10-pitch at-bat with a double. Molina advanced to third on a wild pitch and scored on Martinez’s infield single.Marcell Ozuna tripled home Martinez and scored on Paul DeJong’s double. Jedd Gyorko’s RBI single, St. Louis’ fifth straight hit, made it 4-0.“Danny was really rolling the first two innings,” Yost said. “Until the Yadier at-bat, he was doing a great job of managing his pitch count. Yadier started that long inning for him.”Alcides Escobar hit a two-run homer in the fifth for Kansas City. Escobar, who reached three times, also scored in the eighth on Dakota Hudson’s wild pitch.Jordan Hicks got four outs for his third save in seven chances.The Royals (35-81) picked up their 81st loss at the earliest point in franchise history. The 2005 Royals were 38-81 on Aug. 17 on their way to a team record 106 losses.ERROR-FREEThe Royals have not committed an error in 11 straight games, tying the club record.MOLINA TIES REDMolina’s third-inning double was his 352nd, tying Red Schoendienst for seventh-most in Cardinals history.CARDS ADD WISDOMThe Cardinals purchased the contract of infielder Patrick Wisdom from Triple-A Memphis, where he was hitting .289 with a .363 on-base percentage and 14 homers. Wisdom’s 31 home runs last year ranked fifth in the minors, but he wasn’t added to St. Louis’ 40-man roster and wasn’t selected in the Rule 5 draft.“Disappointed, I wouldn’t use to describe my feelings,” Wisdom said. “I would just say frustrated. I was like ‘OK, obviously I need to get better.’ I didn’t pout or anything. I took it head on and kept working. Things worked out.”TRAINER’S ROOMCardinals: OF Yairo Munoz (sprained right wrist) was placed on the 10-day DL. He aggravated the injury on a swing Friday. He will see a hand specialist Monday. … RHP Luke Gregerson (shoulder impingement) was transferred to the 60-day DL.UP NEXTCardinals: RHP Luke Weaver is 6-10 with a 4.66 ERA in 23 starts heading into Sunday’s series finale.Royals: RHP Jakob Junis is winless in his last seven home starts. KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Salvador Perez made a young fan’s night by coming through on his promise to hit a home run.A few hours later, a couple kids on the Kansas City Royals hit their own memorable shots.Ryan O’Hearn and Hunter Dozier became the first rookies ever to hit back-to-back home runs to tie and win a game in the ninth inning, lifting the Kansas City Royals over the Cleveland Indians 5-4 on Friday night.O’Hearn and Dozier went deep off closer Cody Allen leading off the ninth http://www.redsoxproshops.com/authentic-...oia-jersey , capping a wild finish that followed an odd game featuring a 30-minute delay when a broken water pipe near Kauffman Stadium’s outfield fountains led to flooding on the warning track.“This is an incredible game, fun to be a part of,” Royals rookie right-hander Brad Keller said. “That ninth inning was so wild. I’ve never seen back-to-back homers to walk off a game. It was crazy. It’s fun. Baseball every day is different. That’s what makes it fun.”It started before the game, when six-time All-Star catcher Perez guaranteed a fan in a wheelchair, Colin Couch, that he would hit a home run after meeting him before the game.After Whit Merrifield opened the game with a walk and Alex Gordon followed with a single, Perez made good on the promise by smashing a 454-foot, opposite-field home run — the longest by any Royal this season — into Kauffman Stadium’s iconic right field fountains.“We were talking and I said, ‘I’ll hit a homer for you today, OK?'” Perez said. “He was so happy and all that. After I hit a homer I was looking, he was close to my family in the family (seating), so he was excited.”Yonder Alonso socked a two-out, two-run home run off Brandon Maurer to put Cleveland ahead 4-3 in the eighth. Alonso also went deep in the fourth, marking his fifth career multihomer game and second this season.O’Hearn and Dozier then rescued Kansas City from a sixth straight loss with their homers off Allen. O’Hearn, a rookie first baseman, tied it with a blast into the left field bullpen, and Dozier followed with a wall-scraper to right-center field.“I was just honestly trying to get a fastball to hit,” said Dozier, who has seven home runs. “I wanted to hit it out.”It was the fourth blown save of the season for Allen (4-5) Babe Ruth Jersey , whose ERA climbed to 4.50 in the loss. Wily Peralta (1-0) picked up the victory for the Royals, who were fresh off a four-game sweep at the Tampa Bay Rays.LEAKY SITUATIONThe fountains sprang a leak during the fourth inning. Relievers in the Royals bullpen jumped and yelled to alert game officials and maintenance workers, triggering the stoppage.“I thought I was back in the minor leagues,” Indians manager Terry Francona said. “Nobody knew what was going on.”As maintenance personnel worked to stop the flow of water, more than a dozen grounds crew members armed with squeegees wicked water from the warning track as it poured from under the fence. They also created a sandbag barrier to keep standing water from reaching the outfield grass.Rookie right-hander Brad Keller shrugged off the unusual delay, which came after Yan Gomes‘ two-out double, and struck out Greg Allen to get of the inning with the lead intact.SEE YAHome plate umpire Ramon DeJesus ejected Royals bench coach Dale Sveum during Brantley’s at-bat leading off the eighth inning. It was Sveum’s 16th career ejection — 10 as a manager, five as an assistant coach and once as a player.TRAINER’S ROOMRoyals: RHP Ian Kennedy (left oblique strain) threw a simulated game. Kennedy hasn’t pitched since July 10 at Minnesota. … RF Jorge Soler (left toe fracture) took some swings against Kennedy during the simulated game. … RHP Jesse Hahn underwent surgery to repair the ulnar collateral ligament in his pitching elbow a few weeks ago. It was not a reconstruction, commonly known as Tommy John surgery, but Hahn is expected to be sidelined at least six months. He suffered the UCL strain in March and had worked his way back to Triple-A through the rehab process, which started last month, before the surgery.Indians: LHP Andrew Miller (right knee inflammation) returned Aug. 3 from the 60-day disabled list, but he’s only appeared in nine games during the last three weeks. Indians manager Terry Francona said Friday that the priority is using Miller in situations when a win is on the line. When he’s not available, it taxes the bullpen — which is down to seven pitchers, including two situational arms. Relief will come when the rosters expand Sept. 1. … RHP Nick Goody has been sidelined with right elbow inflammation since May 3. He will have season-ending arthroscopic surgery on his elbow “sometime next week,” but the ulnar collateral ligament is intact, Francona said. … RHP Cody Anderson pitched off the mound in Arizona for the first time since having Tommy John surgery in March 2017.UP NEXTTwo-time Cy Young Award winner RHP Corey Kluber (16-6) gets the nod for the Indians in the second game of a three-game series. He is 2-0 with a 2.08 ERA in two previous starts this season against the Royals, who send rookie RHP Heath Filmyer (1-1) for the 6:15 p.m. first pitch.