Yordano Ventura Notches First Home Win 3-2 Over Cardinals

With as good as Yordano Ventura has looked this season, it was a matter of time before he notched his first major league home victory. Tonight, the Kansas City Royals rallied in the sixth inning to give Ventura that win in a 3-2 victory over the Cardinals.

As they had done over the previous two games, the St. Louis Cardinals jumped out to an early lead. With two outs in the second, Jon Jay singled. Peter Bourjos followed with a drive to deep right center, plating Jay with the RBI triple. Jay once again started another two out rally in the fourth, as he once again singled. Following a walk to Bourjos, Matt Carpenter dropped a single to shallow right, scoring Jay for the second time in the game.

The Royals struggled to put any offense together over the first four innings against Cardinals starter Michael Wacha. That changed in the fifth, when Billy Butler doubled to lead off the bottom of the inning. Following a walk, Salvador Perez grounded to first to put runners on second and third with one out. Wacha managed to get out of the inning unscathed, as Lorenzo Cain popped up and Mike Moustakas flied out to center to end the threat.

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Kansas City finally broke through in the sixth. Ventura continued to pitch well to that point, keeping the Royals close in hopes that the offense would come to life. They did so in the bottom of the inning, as Alcides Escobar led off with a double off the base of the wall in left. Nori Aoki followed by slashing a double down the left field line, plating Escobar to put the Royals on the board. After a groundout, Eric Hosmer grounded a single through the drawn in Cardinals infield, scoring Aoki and tying the game. After a flyout and a base hit put runners on first and second with two outs, Perez grounded a single up the middle, plating Hosmer and giving the Royals their first lead of the night.

The Royals bullpen made that lead stand up, as Francisley Bueno, Wade Davis and Greg Holland combined to allow only one baserunner over the final three innings to preserve the 3-2 victory. Yordano Ventura got the win, allowing two runs on seven hits and two walks, striking out only one batter in his six innings of work.

The Royals seven hits came from seven different players, as Omar Infante and Mike Moustakas were the only members of the starting lineup without a hit in the victory.