Kansas City Royals erupt for 12 runs, blast St. Louis Cardinals at Kauffman Stadium

The Kansas City Royals faced an old nemesis in St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Adam Wainwright.

Entering Friday night, Wainwright held a 3.70 ERA in 17 career games against the Royals. His numbers were even better in Kansas City. In 57 1/3 innings at Kauffman Stadium, Wainwright had allowed 21 runs and only two home runs.

Those numbers evaporated on Friday.

In a hurry.

The Royals blasted Wainwright early, chasing him from the game after one inning of work. He allowed nine hits, eight runs, and the Royals kept scoring. They won 12-8 in the I-70 series opener, recording 17 hits and three home runs along the way.

“It was pretty explosive,” Royals manager Matt Quatraro said of the offensive outburst. “They had a good plan. You know Wainwright was going to have the good curveball. I think they had a good plan hunting it at times. They made him pay for some mistakes he made. That was nice for us to see and mount up some runs early.”

KC scored four runs in the first inning. It was the third time they reached that mark this season. Royals third baseman Maikel Garcia led off the game with a leadoff single and extended his hitting streak to 15 games.

Next, Royals captain Salvador Perez and outfielder MJ Melendez hit consecutive RBI doubles. Perez finished 4 for 4 with four RBIs in the game.

In the second inning, KC put five runs on the board. Witt, Perez and new acquisition Nelson Velázquez each homered.

“Every time we score first, it’s good for us,” Perez said. “Give a little chance to the pitchers and a little bit of support.”

The Cardinals attempted to close the deficit. Cardinals catcher Willson Contreras hit a three-run double in the third inning. Later, Cardinals outfielder Tyler O’Neill hit a two-run homer off Royals reliever Angel Zerpa.

Contreras went 3 for 3 with a home run and five RBIs.

St. Louis got within four runs. However, KC shut the door in the eighth inning. Matt Duffy, who came on for Garcia as an injury replacement, hit a two-run single to provide critical insurance runs.

“The big hit, two strikes, he battles into that at-bat and gets the two RBIs,” Quatraro said. “It’s a four or five run swing right there.”

Wainwright fell to 3-7 on the season. Meanwhile, Zerpa earned his first win of the year.

The Royals improved to 38-80 and won their second game against the Cardinals this season. In the first, you may recall, they flirted with a perfect game.

Here are more notables from Friday’s game:

Salvador Perez climbs Royals leaderboard

The Royals captain put together a solid night. Perez went 4 for 4 with four RBIs against the Cardinals. He hit his 18th home run and finished a triple away from the cycle.

“The last one (double), he was going for the cycle, he said,” Quatraro recalled. “He was hoping he got a triple out of it.”

In the process, Perez also moved up a Royals all-time list. He surpassed Royals Hall of Famer Mike Sweeney with his 369th career multi-hit game. Perez now sits in sixth place in Royals history.

Perez also collected his 211th Interleague hit. He passed former Royals standout Alex Gordon for the most in franchise history. Perez also tied Carlos Beltran with his 73rd three-hit game.

In 36 career games against the Cardinals, Perez is hitting .301 (43 for 143) with six doubles, 10 home runs and 27 RBIs.

“Every time we play at home, we’ve got to win the first game of the series,” Perez said.

Maikel Garcia exits with upper body injury

Royals third baseman Maikel Garcia left Friday’s game with left upper body discomfort. He exited prior to the third inning and was replaced by Matt Duffy.

Garcia recorded two singles before leaving the game. He extended his hitting streak to 15 games, which tied the Royals record for longest streak by a rookie. He joined David DeJesus (twice) and Mike Moustakas on the list.

This season, Garcia is hitting .286 with 4 home runs, 38 RBIs and 18 stolen bases.

What’s next: The Royals conclude their two-game series against the Cardinals. Cole Ragans, who is off to a tremendous start in his Royals career, will start against Steven Matz on Saturday night.