KANSAS CITY -- The Cardinals have gone from road doldrums to road darlings over the past few weeks.
After starting the year 1-10 away from Busch Stadium, St. Louis couldn’t seem to get a break. But now the Cards are getting the breaks and making home opponents pay for mistakes in a big way.
A prime example of that came on Friday night when the Cardinals capitalized on a Jonathan India sixth-inning error and used it as a springboard to a four-run inning that was highlighted by Iván Herrera's three-run double. The big hit by Herrera broke open a tight game and boosted the Cards toward a 10-3 victory over the Royals at Kauffman Stadium.
St. Louis, which has now won nine of its last 13 on the road and is 6-1 on the current three-city road trip, led by just one, 3-2, with two on and one out in the sixth when Willson Contreras hit a bouncer to India at second. India fumbled the ball for an error and, instead of a potential inning-ending double play, the bases were loaded with one out.
Enter Herrera, who has been red-hot since coming off the injured list on May 9. Herrera solved reliever John Schreiber for the gap shot to left-center that plated three runs and boosted the Cardinals (25-20) to an 11th victory in their last 12 games.
“Hitting with runners in scoring position is really hard,” Herrera said. “They pitch you differently and you may not get as many good pitches to hit. I was looking in the dugout [after the double], having fun. The guys have my back and I have their backs.”
Prior to the game, manager Oliver Marmol described Herrera as “a professional hitter.” That professionalism was on full display when Herrera unloaded his 110 mph double in a key spot.
Herrera was determined not to let the Royals off the hook following a crucial error, and his big hit made things significantly easier for Cards starter Andre Pallante.
“We say it all the time when we’re on the other side: When you’re playing good teams and you make a mistake, they take advantage of it,” Marmol said. “We’re a good team and we took advantage of it.”
Overall, Contreras and Herrera did huge damage in the Nos. 5 and 6 spots in the order. They combined to go 5-for-9 with five runs scored and five RBIs.
“Ivan is a great hitter,” Contreras said. “He just needed game time. Hopefully, he will stay healthy the rest of the season, because he makes a great impact on this lineup.”
The Cardinals’ offense piled on late and St. Louis won comfortably even though Pallante balked in a run and Nolan Arenado lost an RBI when he failed to touch first base on what looked like a routine single to center. In the end, the Cards didn’t need to worry about a couple of quirky plays that didn’t go their way.
Pallante was good enough, allowing two runs on seven hits with no walks and four strikeouts over seven innings.
“He got a lot of soft contact and stayed on the ground,” Marmol said of Pallante. “One of his better games, no walks.”
After racking up 19 hits in the second game of Wednesday’s doubleheader in Philadelphia, St. Louis finished with 13 hits in the opener of the I-70 Series on Rivalry Weekend.
“Baseball is 162 games and we’re finding ourselves on the field,” Contreras said. “The chemistry and energy are there."
With strong on-base performers at the top of the lineup and Arenado, Contreras and Herrera bolstering the middle of the order, the Cardinals will take their chances.