ROYALS 4, CARDINALS 2
ST. LOUIS -- To hear Kendrys Morales tell it, luck is finally on his side.
But the Kansas City Royals' designated hitter/outfielder has been more than just lucky the past week.
Morales homered and recorded his sixth consecutive multi-hit game on Thursday to lead the Royals to a 4-2 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals.
Kansas City won for the fourth time in five games and took the two-city, four-game series three games to one.
"Things are falling for me," Morales said.
Indeed.
Brandon Moss and Jhonny Peralta homered for the Cardinals, who have lost their last seven home games -- their longest losing streak since Aug. 2-15, 1983.
Wade Davis recorded his 19th save in 21 opportunities.
Morales, a designated hitter playing right field for the second consecutive night, doubled in the sixth inning off Mike Leake (5-6) to push the lead to 3-1. Morales, who went 3 for 4, has 16 hits in 24 at-bats over the six-game run. He went 12 for 16 in the series and started in the outfield for the first time since 2008.
Since going 1 for 15 in a four-game set with Cleveland on June 2-5, Morales has been on fire. He was hitting .191 on June 5, but has gone 32 of 69 since to push his average to .262.
"I felt like before, I was making good contact," Morales said. "It was just a combination of bad luck that played into it as well."
His six-game multi-hit streak ties him for the longest this season along with J.D. Martinez (Detroit), Jackie Bradley Jr. (Boston) and Xander Bogaerts (Boston).
"He's picking us up, he's on fire offensively," Royals Manager Ned Yost said. "He's doing a very solid job in the outfield for us."
St. Louis Manager Mike Matheny said his club has never had any success against Morales.
"He was a game-changer, this year and last year," Matheny said. "He's been getting great at-bats."
Morales is 25 of 53 (.472) lifetime against the Cardinals with five home runs and 13 RBI. His 456-foot drive in the eighth inning off Tyler Lyons ties him for the longest home run by a visiting player at Busch Stadium III, which opened in 2006.
Kansas City reliever Dillon Gee (3-2) picked up the victory, allowing one run in two innings.
Moss ripped his 17th home run of the season off Royals starter Chris Young, who gave up 1 run and 1 hit over 4 innings, but walked 6.
The drive, which went 477 feet according to the Cardinals, is the longest in the history of Busch Stadium. It is the second-longest this season behind Giancarlo Stanton's 490-foot blast for Miami on May 6, in a 6-4 victory over Philadelphia.
"I hit it hard," Moss said. "I know I'm strong and I know how far I can hit it when I get a hold of one."
Leake gave up 3 runs, 2 earned, in 7 innings. He struck out four and walked one.
"There were a couple of pitches I'd like to take back," Leake said.
AMERICAN LEAGUE
YANKEES 2, RANGERS 1 Chase Headley scored on a passed ball with two outs in the bottom of the ninth, and host New York won in its final at-bat for the second consecutive game, beating Texas. Four New York pitchers combined to strike out 16 Rangers as the teams split the four-game series.
WHITE SOX 6, TWINS 5 J.B. Shuck's two-out single scored the tiebreaking run in the eighth inning, Todd Frazier hit his 23rd home run and Chicago beat visiting Minnesota. Shuck's career high-tying third hit of the game to left scored Avisail Garcia from second.
INDIANS 4, BLUE JAYS 1 Carlos Carrasco struck out a season-high 14, Jason Kipnis and Rajai Davis hit solo home runs and Cleveland matched a franchise record by winning its 13th consecutive game, beating host Toronto.
TIGERS 10, RAYS 7 Cameron Maybin capped a dramatic eight-run ninth inning with a tiebreaking three-run double, and visiting Detroit overcame a five-run deficit to beat Tampa Bay.
NATIONAL LEAGUE
METS 4, CUBS 3 Yoenis Cespedes socked a colossal home run, Jeurys Familia pitched out of a huge jam in the ninth inning and rookie replacement Brandon Nimmo keyed a three-run rally in the seventh that sent New York past visiting Chicago in their first meeting since last year's NL Championship Series.
DODGERS 8, BREWERS 1 Trayce Thompson, Yasmani Grandal and Corey Seager hit home runs, leading Los Angeles to a victory over host Milwaukee. Kenta Maeda (7-5) held the Brewers to one run over six innings as the Dodgers won the season series from the Brewers, five games to two.
NATIONALS 13, REDS 4 Danny Espinosa hit a grand slam and a three-run home run to finish with a career-high seven RBI, and Washington cruised past visiting Cincinnati for its fifth consecutive victory.
BRAVES 8, MARLINS 5 Pinch-hitter Brandon Snyder had two RBI in a four-run sixth inning and host Atlanta rallied for a victory over Miami.
Sports on 07/01/2016