Long ball dooms Cardinals again in rain-shortened loss to Royals
KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- An expansive outfield keeps proving to be not big enough for Cardinals starting pitchers at Kauffman Stadium.
It took just one bad pitch from John Lackey to Alex Gordon to erase the momentum St. Louis gained from ending a 23-inning scoreless streak for the Cardinals' offense and a 27-inning streak for the Kansas City defense. St. Louis couldn't recover from the Royals' third home run in two days -- Gordon's fifth of the season -- in a 3-2 loss shortened by relentless heavy rain.
Lackey wasn't ready for his night to end after giving up three runs on four hits to go along with three walks. But after 70 minutes of waiting, it became clear the weather wasn't going to change anytime soon.
"I felt like I threw the ball pretty well," said Lackey, who fell to 2-3 after allowing only his third home run in 56 2/3 innings this season. "Their team swings a lot and swings early in the counts and pretty much the two-run homer is about it. We're still in the ballgame, still had a pretty good chance."
Edinson Volquez retired the Cardinals in order in the top of the sixth before the rain came down in full force, but they looked much more capable of a comeback than in Friday night's 5-0 loss.
Shortstop Jhonny Peralta doubled to deep left to lead off the second inning Saturday and scored on catcher Yadier Molina's groundout to third. The Cardinals' catcher chased center fielder Lorenzo Cain back to the warning track in the deepest part of center field to end the fourth, but St. Louis never got a second extra-base hit.
First baseman Eric Hosmer's leadoff double down the left-field line in the fourth led to his game-winning run, even though the Cardinals scored thanks to three straight singles by Peter Bourjos, Kolten Wong and Matt Carpenter in the fifth. The inning ended abruptly when Peralta hit into a double play with the bases loaded.
Lackey worked out of a similar jam in the fourth. Manager Mike Matheny lamented missed opportunities for the second night in a row after watching his team leave five men on base. The Cardinals left 13 men stranded Friday night, but Matheny conceded home runs have been the biggest difference in the series.
"A lot of guys on this team have got pop and the home runs are going to come," said right fielder Randal Grichuk, who hit his only home run this season in April in the first of his 42 at-bats. "Definitely like tonight, you get guys on and you've got to get them in."
The Cardinals have certainly proven they can win without the home run, though they scored 10 of 11 runs on homers during a four-game stretch last week that included a pair of 2-1 wins.
Thanks in part to deep fences at Busch Stadium, the Cardinals have allowed only 28 home runs this season, the third fewest in the majors.
"The bigger the outfield, the more room you can run and try to run down balls to help out your pitcher," Grichuk said about the challenge of playing in Kansas City. "I definitely enjoy it from a defensive standpoint. Offensive-wise, (I) might not (enjoy it) so much."
Series finale in doubt
More weather could postpone Sunday's final game between the Cardinals and Royals.
Forecasts show rain all afternoon, making it difficult to see how the two teams will fit in a 1:10 p.m. game featuring a pitching matchup of Michael Wacha for St. Louis and Yordano Ventura for Kansas City. Both teams will travel for Monday afternoon games, with Kansas City set to play the Yankees at 12:05 p.m. in New York and the Cardinals scheduled to host Arizona at 3:15 p.m.
You can follow Luke Thompson on Twitter at @FS_LukeT or email him at lukegthompson87@gmail.com.
