All-Star third baseman Nolan Arenado cleared the Kauffman Stadium fences for the third game in a row, with Tyler O’Neill adding a 432 foot blast, as the St. Louis Cardinals hammered away at an ineffective Kris Bubic for seven runs in the first two innings of a 7-2 win against the Royals on Sunday, completing a three-game weekend sweep for St. Louis.
Arenado’s second inning blast was his 25th of the season, with O’Neill’s, completing a back-to-back effort, his 20th. At that point, the Cardinals had an insurmountable 7-0 lead, but Bubic already in the showers.
Arenado, acquired from Colorado over the offseason, is getting hot as the Cardinals try to scramble back into the National League’s Central Division and Wild Card races. The Cardinals enter the third week of August in third place in the NL Central, 10 games back of the 1st place Brewers and two games behind second-place Cincinnati. In the Wild Card chase, the overall strength of the NL West, with the Giants, Dodgers, and Padres, could mean trouble for other non-division winners come October. St. Louis record of 61-56 is fourth place in the standings, two games behind Cincinnati for third place and 4 1/2 behind San Diego for the second position that would get the Cardinals into the postseason. San Diego is six games behind the Wild Card leading Dodgers, with a current record of 67-53.
For the Royals, a poor performance against the cross-state rival Cardinals did not feel any better after the news broke that talented but oft-injured shortstop Adalberto Mondesi had another setback in his recovery from a left oblique strain. Mondesi was returned from Omaha to Kansas City after feeling tightness in the muscle over “the past couple of days”, according to manager Mike Matheny.
Mondesi has only played in 10 games this season, although when he plays, he has been dynamic, slashing his way to a .361 average, with four homers, 9 RBI’s, five doubles, and six runs scored.
Other MLB scores from Sunday, August 15, 2021:
Boston 6, Baltimore 2
Cleveland 11, Detroit 0
NY Yankees 5, Chicago White Sox 3
Minnesota 5, Tampa Bay 4
Texas 7, Oakland 4
LA Angels 3, Houston 1
Toronto 8, Seattle 3
Atlanta 6, Washington 5
Cincinnati 7, Philadelphia 4
Milwaukee 2, Pittsburgh 1
Miami 4, Chicago Cubs 1
San Francisco 5, Colorado 2
San Diego 8, Arizona 2
LA Dodgers 14, NY Mets 4
