Lackey shines in Cards’ 4-3 win over Kansas Royals

St. Louis Cardinals starting pitcher John Lackey reacts after giving up consecutive RBI singles with two outs in the first inning against the Kansas City Royals on Thursday, July 23, 2015, at Busch Stadium in St. Louis. The Cards won, 4-3. (Chris Lee/St. Louis Post-Dispatch/TNS)

By Rick Hummel/St. Louis Post-DispatchThe 1985 uniforms didn’t bring back that year’s World Series trophy to the Cardinals on Thursday night at Busch Stadium. But at least the Cardinals’ bullpen got the last out in Game 6 against the Kansas City Royals this year as they won this year’s interleague competition between the two teams four games to two.There was no Governor’s Cup even for this one but in a meeting of the teams with Major League Baseball’s best records, the Cardinals rolled up their 61st victory against 34 losses.John Lackey and Kansas City’s Chris Young, who were to have been the opposing pitchers on June 14 when the scheduled game was rained out, were matched again in the replay and Lackey had the better of it, tossing his eighth consecutive quality start in a 4-3 Cardinals win.And, after a rough end to his first half, Trevor Rosenthal, telling manager Mike Matheny he was ready to pitch for a third straight night, scored his third save in those three nights, reaching the 30-mark for the second year in succession. He’s the first Cardinals reliever to achieve that since Jason Isringhausen, who did it four years in a row from 2004-07.But it wasn’t that easy.Rosenthal allowed an infield hit to Alex Rios, a run-scoring triple by Omar Infante and a four-pitch walk to Jarrod Dyson to start the ninth.After a visit to the mound by Matheny, Dyson was allowed to take second as Rosenthal concentrated on hitters.First, Rosenthal struck out rookie Dusty Coleman, hitless in five big-league at-bats. Then he got Alcides Escobar to ground to third baseman Matt Carpenter. Carpenter had just enough time and space to cut down a sliding Infante at the plate as catcher Yadier Molina, who applied the tag, moved up the line to take the throw and expedite the process.“That’s a great play on both ends,” said Matheny. “That’s exactly what you’re hoping for.”Carpenter said, “Yadi is calling pitches down in the zone trying to get a ground ball. Things worked out perfectly. You kind of feed it like (a throw to the) first baseman -- give him something he can handle.”Molina said, “We practice that play in spring training. You’ve got to be able to do it when the time comes.”Escobar was allowed to take second, too, as Rosenthal concentrated his attentions on Mike Moustakas, who hit a grounder to short right-center field where Kolten Wong was stationed and Wong threw out Moustakas to end the game.Earlier in the game, the Cardinals had been victimized by a shift which cost them a single and ultimately two first-inning runs.Matheny put the Cardinals in potential jeopardy in the ninth by allowing two free bases to Royals runners, meaning a single would have scored two runs. But Matheny basically said he wanted Rosenthal, a strikeout pitcher, to deal solely on the hitter.“That’s a controversial philosophy,” said Matheny. “Mine was I want to win this with my closer right now. Instead of holding guys on and leaving holes in the infield, let’s put our best defense out there and see if we can cut down a run at the plate. Trevor and the defense made it work.’’Or as Carpenter said, “When you get the tying run on third base it’s not the end of the world. You just have to find a way to pitch out of it.Randal Grichuk’s two-run homer in the second and Carpenter’s two-run homer in the third — the 10th overall for both — accounted for the offense. Lackey, after giving up two runs in the first, knocked off six scoreless innings.In his last eight starts, he has pitched at least seven innings in seven of them and 6 2/3 in the other, never allowing more than two runs in any as he has posted an earned-run average of 1.75 in that span.The 36-year-old Lackey (9-5) is one of the few Cardinals who was even alive in 1985, and he remembers that Cardinals World Series loss in seven games because his aunt, who lived here, brought some Cardinals T-shirts to the Lackey family home in Abilene, Texas.“I have a picture of me in an ‘85 World Series T-shirt,” Lackey said.Modeling something similar on Thursday, Lackey said, “I’m kind of an old-school guy. I like the old uniforms. They’re sweet. They’re a little hotter than the ones we wear now, that’s the only problem.”Lackey had issued only 16 walks over his previous 13 starts before Thursday. But a one-out walk to Moustakas in the first bit him as the Royals scored two runs with two out.After Lackey retired Lorenzo Cain on a fly to deep right, Eric Hosmer got what amounted to an infield hit even though Wong fielded the ball in short center field.Salvador Perez and Rios then each singled to drive in a run.But the Cardinals finally broke through against Young for the first time this year when Grichuk yanked a homer with Jason Heyward at third base in the second inning. Young had thrown seven consecutive scoreless innings at the Cardinals this season.With the sun still shining in right field (6:15 starting time), Heyward singled in front of Rios, stole his 14th base in 16 tries and moved to third on Molina’s fly to right. Grichuk delivered on a 3-2 pitch, the ball just clearing the wall in left field.In the third, Wong, one for his last 22, singled in front of Rios. Carpenter, hitting .212 since May 1, then slugged his 10th homer 404 feet into the Cardinals’ bullpen in right.Carpenter’s homer was his second since May 24. It was the 12th homer in the last nine games for the Cardinals, who are tied for 10th in the league in home runs.Kansas City manager Ned Yost pulled Young with men at first and third and two outs in the fourth, employing normal designated hitter Kendrys Morales, an All-Star, as a pinch hitter.Morales, three for 11 against Lackey in his career, flied to deep center. The Royals didn’t score in this inning and consequently didn’t have Morales available to hit in the ninth,“There’s no guarantee what’s going to happen later in the game,” Yost said. “So you take your chance to get back into the game.”Seth Maness, the Cardinals’ double-play specialist, got one to escape the eighth after both he and lefthander Randy Choate had allowed singles. Maness wriggled out of a two-on, one-out spot by inducing Perez to ground to Jhonny Peralta.And, although Lackey said he recalled the 1985 World Series, he wasn’t particularly buying into the big-game atmosphere on Thursday night.“I’m trying to do the best I can do against whoever shows up,” said Lackey.