Royals 7, Rockies 4: Omar Infante drove in four runs and matched a career high with three doubles among his season-high four hits, including a go-ahead two-base hit in the seventh inning, as visiting Kansas City won for the 14th time in its last 16 games.
Salvador Perez and Lorenzo Cain added RBI doubles for the Royals, who maintained their two-game lead over Detroit in the American League Central after improving to 15-4 in interleague play - best in the majors - and 10-1 against the National League West. James Shields (12-6) notched his third straight win after allowing two runs and nine hits while striking out six in six innings and Greg Holland needed one pitch to record his major league-leading 39th save in 40 opportunities.
Nolan Arenado and Drew Stubbs homered among their three hits apiece for Colorado, which couldn't build on its first winning streak since July 23-26 after sweeping a doubleheader from Cincinnati on Sunday. Adam Ottavino yielded Infante's big hit in relief of rookie Tyler Matzek (2-9), who was charged with three runs in 6 2/3 innings while losing his fifth straight decision.
Justin Morneau's double-play grounder in the Colorado first produced the game's initial run before Kansas City got even in the fourth when Billy Butler walked and Cain delivered a two-out RBI double. Arenado launched the first pitch he saw with one out in the fifth out to left-center for his 13th homer to give the Rockies a 2-1 lead.
Matzek departed after allowing a two-out single to pinch-hitter Josh Willingham and walking Norichika Aoki before Infante greeted Ottavino with a two-run double just inside the right-field foul line. Perez followed with a two-base hit and Infante capped the Royals' second straight three-run inning with a two-run double in the eighth to make it 7-2.
GAME NOTEBOOK: Rockies OF Michael Cuddyer, who hit for the cycle Sunday in his second game since missing 63 because of a broken shoulder, did not play (hamstring tightness). ... Shields improved to 28-15 in August - 14-3 since the start of 2011 - while improving to 4-0 with a 2.61 ERA in four interleague starts this season. ... Kansas City (70-55) moved 15 games above .500 for the first time since 1994.
Kansas City | Colorado | |
James Shields | Player | Tyler Matzek |
Win | W/L | Loss |
6.0 | IP | 6.2 |
6 | Strikeouts | 5 |
9 | Hits | 6 |
3.00 | ERA | 4.05 |
Kansas City | Colorado | |
Omar Infante | Player | Nolan Arenado |
4 | Hits | 3 |
4 | RBI | 1 |
0 | HR | 1 |
7 | TB | 6 |
.800 | Avg | .750 |
Team | Hits | HR | TB | Avg | LOB | K | RBI | BB | SB | Errors |
Kansas City | 11 | 0 | 17 | .297 | 10 | 9 | 7 | 5 | 0 | 1 |
Colorado | 11 | 2 | 19 | .306 | 17 | 8 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 |