KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol adjusted his lineup Wednesday so that his top three producers this season were hitting 1-2-3. After Tommy Edman, Paul Goldschmidt and Nolan Arenado, moved up from No. 4, had batted in the first inning Wednesday, the Cardinals had three runs off Kansas City left-hander Kris Bubic.
Bubic walked both Edman and Goldschmidt, prompting activity in the bullpen, before Bubic laid in a 2-1 90.5 mph fastball to Arenado and Arenado did what he was paid to do with it. He took it over the left-field wall for his second homer and fourth hit in six career at-bats against Bubic.
After Albert Pujols lined out, Juan Yepez blooped a double to right for his first major-league hit and Bubic was replaced by right-hander Joel Payamps.
Tyler O’Neill, dropped from No. 3 in the order, where he had hit for the first 23 games, to No. 6, tripled to right center and walked home on Harrison Bader’s sacrifice fly and suddenly Adam Wainwright had a 5-0 lead. This was more than enough but Arenado made sure with a two-run single in the seventh as Wainwright, tossing a one-hitter for seven innings, and the Cardinals polished off a 10-0 win.
The new lineup didn't seem to work out too badly either for O'Neill, who also had a two-run homer in the ninth, marking his first homer since the April 7 opening day,
Wainwright, after suffering two consecutive losses and lamenting his lack of command in the process, held the Royals to just a third-inning single to right center by Michael E. Taylor. He walked five in six innings in his most recent start but passed only one on Wednesday and recorded 14 of his 21 outs on ground balls.
Yadier Molina caught his 151st shutout win of his career, which is second on the career charts, and he and Wainwright scored their 202nd victory as battery mates, tying Milwaukee’s Warren Spahn and Del Crandall for first all-time.
Wainwright benefited early from the Cardinals’ customary stellar defense as both first baseman Goldschmidt and third baseman Arenado turned in sparkling plays in the first inning.
Yepez became the first Cardinal to have two doubles in his first game, let alone his first two at-bats, when he dumped another looper to right, hitting the foul line, in the third inning. The last previous player to do it in the majors was Tampa Bay’s Taylor Walls, who doubled twice in his first game last year. The last National League player to do it was current Cardinal Corey Dickerson, who doubled twice in his first game for the Colorado Rockies on June 22 2013. Those also came in his first two at-bats.
The Cardinals didn’t get much done either after the first inning until the seventh against a bevy of Royals relievers, amassing only one hit from the second through the sixth.
But in the seventh, Royals left-hander Amir Garrett walked Paul DeJong, Edman and Goldschmidt in succession, with DeJong and Edman executing a double steal along the way.
Ronald Bolanos surrendered Arenado’s single which gave him a Cardinals career-high five runs batted in.
DeJong knocked in his first run since April 19 on a sacrifice fly in the eighth, scoring Bader, who had singled and moved up on Molina’s single.
T.J. McFarland and Packy Naughton, both left-handers, finished up for the Cardinals. McFarland allowed a hit in the eighth but erased t with a double play started by Goldschmidt. Naughton permitted two singles in the ninth but preserved the shutout with the help of shortstop DeJong, who backhanded Whit Merrifield's smash into the hole and turned it into a game-ending forceout.
