Tyler O'Neill went 4-for-4 with a homer and two runs as the St. Louis Cardinals defeated the visiting Kansas City Royals 4-2 Friday night.

Paul Goldschmidt added a homer and two RBIs for the Cardinals, who rebounded from getting swept in a three-game series against visiting Atlanta Braves.

Adam Wainwright (10-6) held the Royals to two runs on seven hits in seven innings. He struck out six and walked two in his 12th start of seven or more innings this season.

Alex Reyes earned his 25th save, one night after he walked four batters and hit another while retiring nobody against the Braves.

Royals starting pitcher Mike Minor (8-10) allowed four runs on seven hits and two walks in five innings. He fanned seven.

Goldschmidt hit a first-inning solo homer, his first long ball since July 23, to open the scoring.

The Cardinals pushed their lead to 2-0 in the second inning. O'Neill hit a leadoff single, Yadier Molina walked and Paul DeJong broke an 0-for-18 slump with a one-out RBI single.

Wainwright bunted the runners over, but Tommy Edman struck out to strand them.

In the fourth inning, Wainwright had to wriggle out of a jam. Nicky Lopez hit a one-out single and Carlos Santana drew a walk. Hunter Dozier drew a two-out walk to load the bases, but Emmanuel Rivera grounded out.

O'Neill made it 3-0 with a leadoff homer in the bottom of the inning.

Royals catcher Cam Gallagher, filling in for the ill Salvador Perez, snapped a 0-for-23 slump with a fifth-inning double. Wainwright stranded him by retiring the next two batters.

Dylan Carlson hit a one-out double in the bottom of the fifth and scored on Goldschmidt's single to expand the Cardinals' lead to 4-0. O'Neill hit a two-out double to put runners at second and third, but Minor coaxed an inning-ending grounder from Molina.

The Royals broke through against Wainwright in the sixth inning. Santana hit a single and scored on Ryan O'Hearn's triple. Dozier followed with a RBI single to cut the deficit to 4-2. Rivera's single put the tying run on base before Wainwright retired the next two batters.

--Field Level Media