Garcia homers as the Royals beat the Cards 7-5 to split doubleheader

ST. LOUIS (AP) — Maikel Garcia homered, doubled and scored three times, and the Kansas City Royals beat the St. Louis Cardinals 7-5 in the second game of a day-night doubleheader on Thursday night.

Royals starter Cole Ragans pitched three innings in his return from the 15-day injured list with a left groin strain. He allowed five runs on five hits, struck out four and walked three.

Angel Zerpa (3-0) pitched three scoreless innings in relief, giving up one hit, one walk and striking out four. Carlos Estévez earned his 18th save in 21 tries.

Cardinals starter Matthew Liberatore (3-5) was pulled after four-plus innings with fatigue-related issues. He allowed a season-high seven runs on eight hits.

The Cardinals rallied to take game one of the doubleheader 6-5 on Willson Contreras’ RBI single in the tenth.

Garcia’s two-run homer in the first gave the Royals a 2-0 lead in the nightcap.

Freddy Fermin hit a curveball 406 feet into the third deck in left field to lead off the third, sparking a three-run rally. Jonathan India singled and scored and Garcia doubled and scored on a Salvador Perez single to give the Royals a 5-1 lead.

Contreras singled home the Cardinals’ first run in the first inning and jump started a four-run third with a two-run double. Nolan Arenado followed with a two-run homer to tie the game at 5-all.

Nick Loftin’s RBI single scored Mark Canha to break the tie in the fourth. Garcia walked and scored on a Perez single in the fifth.

Key moment

Liberatore left the game after surrendering a leadoff walk to Garcia in the fifth.

Key stat

Garcia’s homer gave the Royals a first-inning home run for the third straight game.

Up next

The Royals are at the Chicago White Sox on Friday night to open a series, while the Cardinals are home against the Los Angeles Dodgers.

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AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb