Cardinals 5, Royals 2 (11): Matt Carpenter capped a 5-for-5 performance with an RBI double in the 11th inning as visiting St. Louis ended its three-game losing streak.

Peter Bourjos drew a one-out walk from Kelvin Herrera (1-2) and stole second before racing home on the double by Carpenter, who finished with two RBIs. Allen Craig delivered a two-run single later in the frame, Sam Freeman (1-0) worked a flawless 10th and Pat Neshek was perfect in the 11th en route to his first career save.

Salvador Perez and Lorenzo Cain each had an RBI and Alcides Escobar recorded two of the five hits by the Royals, who suffered their fourth straight home loss.

Royals starter Jason Vargas escaped a bases-loaded jam in the first inning but was unable to keep St. Louis from getting on the board in the second as Mark Ellis hit a one-out single and stole second before coming around to score on Carpenter's base hit for a 1-0 advantage. Carpenter helped double the lead in the seventh, leading off with a double and coming home on Matt Holliday's groundout two batters later.

Adam Wainwright was three outs away from becoming the first nine-game winner in the National League, but the first two batters reached in the ninth and reliever Trevor Rosenthal walked Alex Gordon to load the bases before an RBI fielder's choice by Perez and Cain's run-scoring single forged a tie.

GAME NOTEBOOK: St. Louis C Yadier Molina recorded two hits, ending his 0-for-16 slump. He had gone 2-for-26 over his previous eight games. ... Wainwright allowed two runs and four hits in eight-plus innings, while Vargas yielded two runs and nine hits over eight frames. ... Kansas City had its six-game winning streak against NL teams come to an end.