John Lackey threw seven strong innings after a shaky beginning, Trevor Rosenthal escaped his own jam in the ninth and the St. Louis Cardinals beat the Kansas City Royal 4-3 on Thursday night.
Randal Grichuk and Matt Carpenter hit two-run homers as the Cardinals won in the makeup of a rainout last month.
As in the originally scheduled game, St. Louis and Kansas City led their league in wins and Lackey (9-5) and Chris Young (8-6) were the scheduled starters.
Rosenthal, pitching for the third straight day, took over to begin the ninth with a 4-2 lead. Alex Rios led off with a single and Omar Infante followed with a triple.
The Royals went on to put runners on second and third with no outs, but Rosenthal held on for his 30th save in 32 chances. Mike Moustakas grounded out to end it.
