Another day, another home loss for the KC Royals. They also received another short outing from a starter, as the Royals lost to St. Louis, 8-2.

Luis Mendoza lasted longer than Friday night’s starter, but was pulled with two on and one out in the 5th inning. One of those runs scored and Mendoza ended up allowing four runs on seven hits and two walks.

The Royals bullpen was once again overworked, as five relievers were needed to finish the game. Newly promoted lefty, Francisley Bueno, allowed one run in his one inning of work.

The offense was shut down by Cardinals starter Adam Wainwright. He allowed just six hits. Alex Gordon and Alcides Escobar collected two hits each. Gordon drove in one run and scored the other.

Every Cardinals starter had at least one hit, except backup catcher Tony Cruz. The top six hitters in their order had multi-hit games.

The two teams finish the I-70 series on Sunday afternoon.

The KC Royals won a five hour, 15 inning marathon over the St. Louis Cardinals, 5-3. The win gave the Royals their second straight series victory.

Yuni via Keith Allison/Flickr

It could have been over after 14 innings if Royals closer Jonathan Broxton could close out a game. Yuniesky Betancourt, who came on for the injured Chris Getz back in the first inning, doubled in Alex Gordon (who walked to lead off the inning) with nobody out. But in the bottom of the inning, Broxton walked the leadoff man (Allen Craig), who came around to score on Yadier Molina‘s pinch-hit RBI single.

Eduardo Sanchez went back out for the 15th inning for the Cardinals and got right back into trouble. Jarrod Dyson singled to lead off the inning and was sacrificed to second base. After Sanchez got Gordon to fly out, Betancourt struck again. This time he gave the Royals a two run lead with a two-run homerun.

Apparently, something clicked with Broxton when he went back out for the bottom of the 15th inning. He struck out two (including Carlos Beltran) before getting Rafael Furcal to ground out to end the game. He threw just ten pitches.

The reason the game went into extra innings was because Billy Butler came off the bench and hit a homerun with two outs off Cardinals closer Jaosn Motte in the 9th inning. That tied the game at 2-2.

The marathon makes you forget how well the two teams’ starters pitched. Luis Mendoza made two mistakes over six innings, as he allowed back-to-back solo homeruns to Matt Holliday and Craig in the 6th inning. For the Cardinals, Adam Wainwright allowed one run on five hits over seven innings. He struck out eight.

The Royals bullpen was OUTSTANDING. Until Broxton gave up the 14th inning run, six pitchers combined to allow just three hits and two walks over seven shutout innings. Tim Collins pitched three scoreless innings while striking out three.

The Royals had 13 hits. Mike Moustakas had three of them, while Yuni and Dyson had two each. They had plenty of chances to score in extra innings, but overall went just 2-for-16 with runners in scoring position. Bruce Chen pinch-hit in the 13th inning and picked up a single.

For more on the Cardinals, check out Aaron Miles’ Fastball. 

*The Royals now travel to Houston to continue Interleague Play for three games. Maybe there will be a roster move for a fresh arm? They used their entire bullpen.

**With the Getz injury, Johnny Giavotella was pulled from his game with Omaha.

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The I-70 series begins on Friday night, as the KC Royals travel to Busch Stadium to face the reigning World Series champion St. Louis Cardinals. The Interleague matchup is just one 3-game series this season (instead of a home-and-home matchup like last year).

The Royals are coming off a series sweep at home versus Milwaukee, while the Cardinals won their series against the Chicago White Sox. The Cardinals moved into a tie for second place in the National League Central with Pittsburgh (three games back of Cincinnati).

Friday: Vin Mazzaro (2-1, 3.60 ERA) @ Kyle Lohse (6-1, 2.90 ERA)

Mazzaro is coming off a bad start against the Pirates (just three innings). How long he stays in the rotation will depend on how he continues to pitch.

Lohse has been dominant so far in June (0.66 ERA and a .106 opponent’s abtting average). He has allowed more than three earned runs in just two starts in 2012.

Saturday: Bruce Chen (5-6, 4.44 ERA) @ Joe Kelly (0-0, 1.80 ERA)

I feel like I write this every fifth day, but Chen has been the Royals most consistent starter.

Kelly made his Major League debut last Sunday and did not disappoint (one run on seven hits over five innings).

Sunday: Luis Mendoza (2-3, 4.89 ERA) @ Adam Wainwright (4-7, 4.75 ERA)

Mendoza hasn’t won a game since May 13th, but carried a no-hitter against the Brewers into the 7th inning in his last start.

Wainwright has gotten better and better with each start as the season has progressed. It is his first year back after Tommy John surgery.

Let the battle for Missouri begin!

*For more on the Cardinals, check out Aaron Miles’ Fastball.