Aviles, Davies lead Royals to 2-1 win over Cards

[June 18, 2008]  ST. LOUIS (AP) -- Mike Aviles homered to snap an eighth-inning tie and Kyle Davies worked seven sharp innings in the Kansas City Royals' 2-1 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals on Tuesday night.

David DeJesus had his sixth RBI in two games for the Royals, 29-42 overall but a robust 5-2 in interleague play while taking two of three from Florida and Arizona. The opener of the three-game interleague series between cross-state rivals drew a paid attendance of 43,793, the Cardinals' fourth straight sellout.

Davies (3-0) allowed one run on five hits with four strikeouts and three walks, allowing only three runners to advance to scoring position. He's won three of four starts with a 1.46 ERA since being recalled from Triple-A Omaha on May 31.

Joakim Soria worked the ninth for his 16th save to complete a five-hitter after Ron Mahay worked a perfect eighth.

Joel Pineiro also put together a strong seven-inning start for the Cardinals, allowing one run on seven hits while matching his season high for innings. He's 0-1 in his last six starts since beating the Reds with seven innings of one-hit ball on April 29.

Cardinals closer Jason Isringhausen made his first appearance since coming off the 15-day disabled list Sunday, working around a fielding error and a hit batsman in a scoreless ninth. The Cardinals plan to ease Isringhausen, who has six blown saves in 17 chances, a 1-5 record and 7.58 ERA, back into the closer role.

Aviles, the Royals' minor league player of the year last year, is batting .333 with three homers and six RBIs in 12 games since his contract was purchased from Omaha on May 29. He homered into the visitor's bullpen in left field on a 1-1 pitch from Ron Villone (1-2) with one out in the eighth.

Aviles, a seventh-round pick in 2003, was leading the Pacific Coast League in RBIs, extra-base hits and total bases with a .338 average when he was called up.

Villone has allowed seven runs on six hits and five walks in his last two outings over 2 2-3 innings.

Cesar Izturis doubled to lead off the third when second baseman Mark Grudzielanek apparently didn't know he was coming and failed to apply a tag for an easy out, and ended up scoring on a double-play ball to put the Cardinals ahead.

The Royals tied it in the fifth on DeJesus' two-out RBI single. DeJesus is 5-for-9 with six RBIs the last two games.

[Associated Press; By R.B. FALLSTROM]

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