Drew Butera had a two-run single in the 10th inning and the Kansas City Royals earned a 5-2 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals on Wednesday.

Butera's RBIs were his first since May 2. Jon Jay followed with an RBI single as the Royals won their first series since taking three of four from Detroit May 3-6.

Salvador Perez hammered a first-pitch fastball by Cardinals starter Michael Wacha for his eighth home run of the season to lead off the second.

Royals starter Jakob Junis gave up two runs in five innings, while striking out seven.

Blaine Boyer (2-0) pitched a scoreless ninth for the win. Kelvin Herrera earned his 10th save with a perfect 10th.

Abraham Almonte scored on a sacrifice fly in the sixth to tie it 2-2.

Wacha retired 14 of the first 15 batters he faced. He gave up two runs, one earned, in 6 2/3 innings.

Bud Norris (1-1) pitched a perfect ninth, but couldn't record an out in the 10th, giving up back-to-back singles to Jorge Soler and Alex Gordon before compounding the issue by committing an error on Alcides Escobar's sacrifice attempt to load the bases ahead of Butera.

Francisco Pena capped a two-run second inning with an RBI double, giving the Cardinals a 2-1 lead. Pena had a pair of hits after going 1-for-12 the previous three games.

WEB GEMS

Cardinals center fielder Tommy Pham robbed Jorge Soler of an extra-base hit with a running catch in the seventh. Pham, who was shading Soler to left-center, made the catch in straightaway center on the warning track right before hitting the wall.

Not to be outdone, Royals left fielder Alex Gordon made a diving catch on Pena's liner in the bottom of the seventh, robbing the Cardinals' catcher of his third hit of the game.

LATE SCRATCH

Cardinals left fielder Marcell Ozuna was a late scratch from the lineup and was replaced by Tyler O'Neill, because of a manager's decision. Ozuna was hitting .714 (5 for 7) with a walk in his previous two games.

TRAINING ROOM

Royals: 1B Lucas Duda (right foot plantar fasciitis) is eligible to come off the 10-day disabled list on Thursday.

Cardinals: RHP Alex Reyes (right elbow surgery) is scheduled to make his final rehab start at Triple-A Memphis on Thursday. LHP Tyler Lyons (mid back strain) threw a bullpen and will make the trip to Pittsburgh.

UP NEXT

Royals: LHP Danny Duffy (1-6, 6.88 ERA) will kick off a four game series at Texas on Thursday. Duffy is 1-4 with a 6.82 ERA in six road starts this season.

Cardinals: RHP John Gant (1-1, 4.67 ERA) gets the start in the opener of a three-game series Friday at Pittsburgh and RHP Joe Musgrove (2018 debut). Gant is 0-0 with a 3.38 ERA in three appearances against the Pirates.

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