Royals Take Round One with 6-2 Win Over Cardinals

Danny Duffy matched a career best with eight sharp innings, the Royals kept swinging hot bats and Kansas City routed the St. Louis Cardinals 6-2 on Monday night to open a four-game, two-city series.

Kendrys Morales went 4 for 4 and drove in two runs, and Eric Hosmer also had a pair of RBIs as the Royals roughed up Adam Wainwright (6-5) to snap a four-game losing streak to their cross-state rival.

Duffy (3-1) served up a two-run homer to Matt Holliday in the first before settling into a nice rhythm, keeping the Cardinals off balance with pinpoint control. The left-hander struck out eight and didn't walk a batter while breezing through a lineup that scored 11 runs the previous day against Seattle.