ST. LOUIS _ Tyler O'Neill hit a three-run homer, his third long ball in as many days, to provide more than enough run support for starter Miles Mikolas as the Cardinals rolled to a 6-0 victory over the Kansas City Royals before a crowd of 42,140 Monday night at Busch Stadium.
This segment of the I-70 Series will continue with games Tuesday at 7:15 p.m. and Wednesday at 1:15 p.m.
Mikolas bounced back from his shortest outing of the season _ a 4 2/3-inning no-decision in a 7-5 win over the Twins on Wednesday _ to pitch the first complete game and shutout of his career to improve to 6-0 while lowering his ERA to 2.24. The veteran right-hander allowed four hits and one walk while striking out ninth.
Mikolas allowed two scratch hits in the first after striking out the first two batters of the game. In the third after giving up hits to pitcher Ian Kennedy and ex-Cardinal Jon Jay to open the inning, he got Jorge Soler to hit into a 5-4-3 double play and Mike Moustakas on a sharply hit flyout to center field.
After a hit by pitch with one out in the fourth, Mikolas coaxed another double-play grounder to end the inning. He would go on to retire the next 14 Kansas City hitters before walking Moustakas with two outs in the ninth.
The Cardinals jumped on top in the third, thanks to two-out hits from Matt Carpenter, longtime Royals farmhand Jose Martinez and Marcell Ozuna, who drove in the run with an opposite-field hit to right field. O'Neill followed with a three-run blast into the Cardinals' bullpen to make it 4-0. It was O'Neill's third homer in as many days.
The home team added to its lead in the fifth. With two outs, Ozuna singled sharply into left-center and O'Neill followed with a double down the left-field line for the 5-0 lead.
Carpenter led off the seventh with his fourth homer of the season to make it 6-0.
The Cardinals outhit the Royals 10-4, getting three hits and a solo homer from Carpenter and two-hit games from O'Neill (home run, four RBIs) and Ozuna (RBI).
Kennedy (1-5) took the loss and had one of the Royals' hits.
The Cardinals' Greg Garcia left the game after singling in the sixth with lower back tightness.
