Kansas City Royals take opener against Cards, 6-0

The Kansas City Royals and St. Louis Cardinals were locked in a pitcher’s duel tonight before the Royals unleashed a display of power to win 6-0 at Busch Stadium.

Danny Duffy (3-5, 3.05) pitched six innings of one-hit ball to get the win. Shelby Miller (6-5, 4.06) pitched toe-to-toe with Duffy through six before faltering in the seventh.

Alex Gordon led off the seventh with a solo home run to right, snapping a scoreless tie. It was Gordon’s fifth home run of the year, a no-doubter off Miller. Salvador Perez followed with a single and moved to second on a wild pitch. Lorenzo Cain then hit a weak three-hopper to third baseman Matt Carpenter and was called safe. The Cardinals challenged the call but it was upheld. Another wild pitch moved runners to second and third before Mike Moustakas, collecting his first hit since returning two days ago from an 8-game exile in Omaha, lashed a 2-run double into the gap in left-center giving the Royals a 3-0 lead. It was Moose’s eighth double on the year.

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After Kelvin Herrera tossed a scoreless seventh, the Royals again put up a crooked number in the next frame.
Omar Infante singled to lead off the eighth. One out later, Alex Gordon walked. Perez hit a sharp single up the middle, scoring Infante and then Gordon as center fielder  Randal Grichuk let the ball roll under his glove, stretching the Royals’ lead to 5-0.  Perez ended up on third and scored on Lorenzo Cain‘s sacrifice fly to deep center, accounting for the final margin of 6-0.

Duffy, who complained of suffering from “dead arm” during his last outing, was as live as he’s looked all season. Aside from giving up one hit over six innings, he only walked one and struck out five. He consistently reached the mid-90s with his fastball.

NOTABLES: Kelvin Herrera (1.61), Wade Davis (1.42) and Aaron Crow (2.92) threw scoreless innings in the seventh, eighth and ninth innings, respectively, and all have earned run averages below 3.00.
Salvador Perez went 3-for-4 with an RBI and two runs scored.
The Royals out-hit the Red Birds 9-3.

NEXT: James Shields (6-3, 3.36) vs. Jaime Garcia (1-0, 4.12), 6:15 p.m., Busch Stadium.