Cardinals hold off Royals 4-3

Randal Grichuk and Matt Carpenter homered and John Lackey overcame a shaky first inning Thursday to lead the St. Louis Cardinals to a 4-3 victory over Kansas City at Busch Stadium.

By the numbers

Lackey (9-5) allowed two first-inning runs, but Grichuk’s two-run homer in the second tied the game, and Carpenter hit a two-run homer in the third to give the Cardinals the lead for good. Both home runs came against Chris Young (8-6). ... Trevor Rosenthal recorded his 30th save, pitching out of a second-and-third, no-out jam in the ninth after allowing a run. The Cardinals are 5-1 since the All-Star break. ... Grichuk and Kolten Wong had two hits apiece.

Up next

The Cardinals begin a three-game homestand against the Atlanta Braves at 7:15 p.m. Friday. Tim Cooney (0-0, 3.33 ERA) will pitch against the Braves’ Manny Banuelos (1-1, 1.08 ERA).

This story was originally published July 23, 2015 at 9:14 PM with the headline "Cardinals hold off Royals 4-3."