Cards allow Royals another big frame

KANSAS CITY -- Through two games of the I-70 series at Kauffman Stadium, the Cardinals haven’t figured out a way to prevent the big inning.

The Royals, who had a six-run inning and a four-run inning on Thursday, were right back at it scoring in bunches Friday, using a four-run rally in the fourth against right-hander Michael McGreevy to start to put the Cardinals in a hole they couldn’t quite climb out of while absorbing a 6-5 loss.

McGreevy, who started the night with a 2.99 earned run average this season -- 10th in the National League -- went to the fourth with a 2-0 lead. But the Royals kept the line moving after a leadoff double by Lane Thomas. Jac Caglianone found a hole up the middle and produced an RBI single. He moved to second on Salvador Perez’s groundout and scored the tying run on Michael Massey’s soft single to center. McGreevy got Nick Loftin on a lineout, but a walk to John Rave and a two-run double by Isaac Collins meant St. Louis was on its way to a sixth loss in its past nine games.

Whereas the Royals did heavy damage with hard-hit balls on Thursday, McGreevy couldn’t think of many instances in the fourth on Friday where he would like to have had pitches back. On the RBI hits by Caglianone, Massey and Collins, the pitch execution was there, according to McGreevy.

“Caglianone, I thought I executed below the zone where I needed to,” McGreevy said. “The Massey single was kind of bizarre. To see how far below the zone it was, I would throw that pitch again.”

The only regret McGreevy had in the pivotal fourth was walking Rave before the Collins two-run double.

“That’s the only thing I am really [upset] about,” McGreevy said. “There wasn’t really anything I would call on, like, ‘Hey, I didn’t have my best stuff tonight.’ I thought I threw the ball well. When it rained, it poured in that fourth inning.”

McGreevy’s season ERA had dropped to 2.97 after he went six innings and allowed just one run against Seattle on April 26. The right-hander’s ERA stubbornly stayed under 3.00 until Friday when the Royals took charge in the fourth. McGreevy finished the night with a 3.35 ERA after working five innings and allowing eight hits and five runs.

Thus, the Cardinals will have to win the series finale on Sunday to gain a split in the six games they play against their cross-state Missouri rivals this season. There is no game on Saturday because of a World Cup match across the parking lot at Kansas City Stadium.

Since their six-game winning streak ended with a loss to the Mets on June 11, the Cardinals have hit a 3-6 rough patch.

“That’s why you can’t get too high or too low,” McGreevy said. “It’s always funny how people are talking about playoffs in June, or even May. It has been great vibes with this ballclub. It’s the ebbs and flows of baseball, and we’ll right the ship on Sunday.”

Trailing 6-2 entering the ninth, the Cardinals put up a determined three-run rally before ultimately falling short. With two outs, Blaze Jordan went the other way for a two-run single to right. In a year of development for the Cardinals, that was a hit that resonated with manager Oliver Marmol.

“It’s pretty clear that’s what this group does,” Marmol said. “They are going to give you their best shot. They did it again in the ninth there.

“Blaze having that at-bat in the ninth was awesome. I couldn’t help but smile when he got the hit. Now, he has that in his memory bank, to be able to come through. There were a lot of bright spots, but unfortunately we came up short.”