Walker homers and Mikolas pitches streaking Cardinals to 1-0 win over Royals
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Jordan Walker homered and Miles Mikolas pitched six sharp innings to lead the surging St. Louis Cardinals past the Kansas City Royals 1-0 on Saturday night.
Mikolas (3-2) allowed two hits with four strikeouts and two walks for the Cardinals, who have won three straight and 12 of 13. St. Louis is 7-1 on a nine-game trip to three cities, winning all three series.
Walker connected leading off sixth. Ivan Herrera’s two-out single in the fifth was the only other hit for the Cardinals.
Kyle Leahy permitted two hits in two innings of relief and Ryan Helsley finished the four-hitter for his ninth save.
Hard-luck loser Noah Cameron (1-1) went 6 1/3 innings in his second major league start. The 25-year-old left-hander from St. Joseph, Missouri, became the first pitcher to begin his career with consecutive starts of 6 1/3 or more innings without giving up more than two hits in either one.
Kansas City stranded five runners and has been held to four or fewer runs in seven of the last eight games. The Royals have scored four or more 38 times this season, second-most in the majors.
Key moment
Walker hit a 422-foot shot to left field for his third homer of the season. He began the night batting .186.
Key stats
St. Louis has its first seven-win road trip since 2021. ... The Royals have lost four in a row, and six of seven since a seven-game winning streak from May 3-9.
Up next
Cardinals LHP Matthew Liberatore (3-3, 3.11 ERA) faces RHP Michael Wacha (3-4, 2.96) in the series finale Sunday.
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AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb
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