KANSAS CITY, Mo. _ The swing Dylan Carlson put on the slow-bending, 78-mph breaking ball in the eighth inning carried it just a few feet shy of history.
The Cardinals' rookie came up for his final at-bat of the evening a home run shy of the team's first cycle since 2005, when infielder and future KC Royal Gold Glove-winner Mark Grudzielanek had one at a ballpark that has been paved over for a village. He had a double and a triple in his first two at-bats, both against Royals starter Brady Singer, and he lashed a single to help the Cardinals push toward their 5-0 victory Tuesday night.
Carlson got good wood on the pitch in the eighth and it traveled all the way to the warning track, where it was caught of an out, short of the cycle.
The evening at Kauffman Stadium was set up to be a showcase of a young player continuing to establish himself in the majors.
And it was, just not the guy from the Royals.
Singer, who had pitched 14 shutout innings in his previous two starts, walked his way into trouble, and Carlson did the damage he could. Carlson's triple to lead off the fourth jettisoned Singer from the game and would lead to manager Mike Matheny's ejection (see below). Singer allowed three runs, but it was the five walks that really shortened start.
The young starter that excelled on the evening was Cardinals lefty Austin Gomber.
He kept the infielders busy with nine groundballs, and he was also his fielders biggest fan at the ballpark. Without a crowd to cheer for diving plays, Gomber did. When Harrison Bader made a diving catch in center, Gomber raised his hands to the sky and shouted to his teammate. When Matt Carpenter dove to his right and made the play that closed out Gomber's six scoreless innings, Gomber was the one pointing and applauding as they walked off the field.
In the empty stadium, it was possible to hear the pitcher's cheers.
Gomber struck out three and allowed four hits. As a contrast to Singer and the trouble he created for himself, Gomber did not walk a batter.
Carlson's double in the second inning scored two teammates who had walked. Carlson scored on Kolten Wong's RBI single. In the fifth inning, Brad Miller doubled home Paul Goldschmidt to push the Cardinals' lead to 4-0. In the sixth, Carlson led off with a single to left field. He took second when Bader walked, got to third on a sacrifice bunt, and then scored the fifth run of the game for the Cardinals on a sacrifice fly.
Carlson finished the game three-for-four with two RBIs, two runs scored and his batting average on the cusp of .200, at .196.
