Cardinals blank Royals again to cap sweep

[August 15, 2019]    Held hitless by Brad Keller through six innings, the St. Louis Cardinals scored five runs in the seventh and defeated the host Kansas City Royals 6-0 on Wednesday.

Cardinals starting pitcher Dakota Hudson (43) pitches against the Kansas City Royals during the first inning at Kauffman Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jay Biggerstaff-USA TODAY Sports

The Cardinals didn't allow a run in the two-game series, as they won 2-0 on Tuesday. St. Louis earned its fifth win in a row, immediately following a five-game losing streak, while Kansas City fell for the 11th time in 14 games.

In the series finale, the Cardinals produced six consecutive singles to start the seventh inning. Five of those runners scored.

Dakota Hudson (11-6) matched Keller in scoreless innings long enough to pick up the win. He scattered five hits over six frames, walking two and striking out four.

Keller (7-13) gave up back-to-back singles to Marcell Ozuna and Paul DeJong to start the seventh. Matt Carpenter hit a line drive back up the middle, scoring Ozuna and sending Keller to the showers.

The 24-year-old right-hander wound up charged with three runs on three hits with five strikeouts and three walks in six-plus innings.

Kevin McCarthy replaced Keller and gave up an RBI single to Yadier Molina for the second run. Kolten Wong reached on a bunt single, loading the bases.

Randy Arozarena, making his major league debut, followed with an infield single for his first big-league hit and RBI. A sacrifice fly by Dexter Fowler and an RBI fielder's choice by Tommy Edman gave the Cardinals their fourth and fifth runs.

DeJong's solo home run in the eighth gave the Cardinals their final run. He became the first Cardinals shortstop ever to have multiple 20-homer seasons.

Arozarena and DeJong each had two hits for St. Louis. Ryan O'Hearn collected a pair of hits for Kansas City.

Tyler Webb (1 1/3 innings), John Gant (two-thirds of an inning) and Junior Fernandez (one inning) followed Hudson and completed the shutout.

Keller, who struggled with control early in the season, was using his newly found pace on his fastball. He continually found the upper 90s against the Cardinals.

--Field Level Media

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