ST. LOUIS — The Cardinals got to .500 — again — and Matt Carpenter made it to .200 Saturday night at Busch Stadium.
A 5-2 victory over the Kansas City Royals, the Cardinals’ second in two nights over their cross-state rivals, evened the Cardinals’ record at 55-55. But they have been at .500 virtually every other day. In the past 16 games, they have been dead even eight times.
Carpenter, however, had never been to .200 this season, either in the regular season or spring training. But, finally, when he smashed a run-scoring pinch double in the fourth inning to break a 2-2 tie, he pushed his batting average to .200 on the nose, at 32 hits in 160 at-bats.
Manager Mike Shildt had made a bold move in employing his most often used pinch hitter so early, but the Cardinals had runners at first and third with one out in a game that the Royals had deadlocked in the top of the inning against wearying starter Kwang Hyun Kim.
Carpenter’s pinch hit was his seventh in 38 at-bats but his on-base percentage in such roles is much better because of his nine pinch hit walks.
Luis Garcia, impressive since being signed as a released player on July 9, blanked the Royals for two innings in posting his first Cardinals win as he extended his string of scoreless outings to five. He has fanned six and given up only two hits in his past 6 1/3 innings.
Kansas City starter Brad Keller issued two leadoff walks and paid for it in the twilight.
Both Dylan Carlson and Paul Goldschmidt drew passes to start the first and then Nolan Arenado hit a checked swing grounder to Keller, who had a possibility of a double play. But Keller could only knock down the ball and got just one out at first.
Keller rebounded to fan hot-hitting Tyler O’Neill and then Yadier Molina blooped a ball into short right.
The Royals’ Hunter Dozier, not seeing the ball well in the sun field, took a step back and then many forward, but not enough to stop the ball from falling for a two-run single.
Molina went to second on a wild pitch and headed to third on another ball in the dirt with Harrison Bader batting. Catcher Salvador Perez threw to third baseman Emmanuel Rivera, missing on Molina, but Rivera fired to first to get Bader, who had been called out on a strike three appeal to first-base umpire Angel Hernandez.
Kim, who had had trouble keeping the ball in the ball park when he allowed four homers to Cleveland in 2 2/3 innings on July 28, recorded four six ground-ball outs in the first three innings, all of which were scoreless.
But the Royals worked Kim in the fourth, notably Rivera, who had three good “takes” when down in the count 1-2. Rivera walked with two outs to give the Royals two runners in an inning for the first time.
Michael A. Taylor’s single to left gave the Royals their first run. Hanser Alberto also singled to left. Rivera could have been out at the plate on left fielder O’Neill’s throw but Molina couldn’t grab the ball on the hop and hold onto it as Rivera stepped around Molina and then back to the plate to tag it as the score was evened.
Kim, having thrown 83 pitches, 33 of them in the fourth, was removed for a pinch hitter in the fourth.
That pinch hitter was Carpenter, who doubled to right to score Paul DeJong, who had doubled with one out. Tommy Edman was cut down at home as he tried to score a second run on the play but the Cardinals had a 3-2 lead and Garcia was on to replace Kim.
Garcia breezed through the fifth, striking out two, and then Arenado rifled his 22nd homer to left on Keller’s first pitch to him in the home fifth as the Cardinals had their two-run lead back.
Shildt, pushing all the right buttons on Saturday as Hall of Fame manager Whitey Herzog was in the crowd on a night when 36,615 paid, went to rookie Lars Nootbaar as a pinch hitter in the sixth. DeJong and Edman, both of whom had had their second hits, were at first and third and nobody out.
Nootbaar, hitless in 14 at-bats since June 25, singled off right-handed reliever Josh Staumont to put the Cardinals ahead 5-2. Carlson singled to load the bases but Goldschmidt popped up, Arenado was called out on strikes and O’Neill, who had four hits on Friday, went out for the fourth time on Saturday with a grounder to short.
Keller’s night was over with many “fives” to show for it. He allowed five runs in five innings, walking five and striking out five.
Right-hander Ryan Helsley had a perfect seventh for the Cardinals. Genesis Cabrera worked a scoreless eighth and Giovanny Gallegos, who lost two games in two nights earlier in the homestand, closed for his second save of the season via a perfect ninth.
And Jose Rondon singled as a pinch hitter in the eighth, giving the Cardinals three hits in three pinch at-bats.
