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Santana helps Royals edge Mets

Aug 5, 2013 - 12:42 AM Flushing, NY (Sports Network) - Lorenzo Cain knocked in two runs and Ervin Santana tossed six solid innings as the Kansas City Royals beat the New York Mets, 6-2, in the rubber match of a three-game series.

Mike Moustakas hit a solo homer for the Royals, who went 8-1 on a nine-game road trip. Alex Gordon and Eric Hosmer added an RBI apiece.

"Yeah, its a good trip," said Gordon. "We ended the All-Star break on a bad note but we knew we had to pick it up. We have some ground to catch, we've done it so far since the break."

Santana (8-6) allowed one run on five hits while striking out five and walking three.

John Buck and Eric Young each knocked in a run for the Mets, who have lost four of five.

New York starter Zach Wheeler (4-2) gave up four runs -- three earned -- on five hits while walking five over five full frames.

New York's best chance to score early came in the first inning. Young led off with a single, stole second and moved to third on Daniel Murphy's groundout. Santana then retired Josh Satin and Marlon Byrd to keep the Mets off the board.

The Royals broke a scoreless tie in the fourth. With two outs, Moustakas homered to right.

Kansas City tacked on three more runs in the fifth, thanks to Byrd's fielding problems. David Lough started the frame with a routine fly ball to right field that Byrd lost in the sun. The ball dropped next to Byrd and Lough made it to second on the play for a double. Lough moved to third on Miguel Tejada's sacrifice bunt. Jarrod Dyson then came on as a pinch-runner and scored on a wild pitch.

Byrd had more issues with the sun after Hosmer walked. Alex Gordon hit a deep fly ball to the warning track. This time around, Byrd dropped the ball for an error. Cain followed with a two-run single to right.

"Two balls I misplayed that basically killed Wheeler and any momentum that he had," said Byrd. "He was throwing the ball well, I wish I could have made both of those plays, at least one to help him out."

The Mets got one run back in the bottom half. Omar Quintanilla singled, advanced to second on pinch-hitter Andrew Brown's groundout and raced home on Young's single up the middle. The next two batters reached base to fill the bags for Byrd, who struck out swinging to end the inning.

Kansas City used a two-run sixth to make it a 6-1 contest. With Gonzalez Germen on the mound, Dyson doubled and Tejada walked. Hosmer and Gordon followed with consecutive RBI singles.

The Mets scored once in the eighth to account for the final margin. Byrd doubled to left-center field and scored on Buck's single past a diving Gordon in left-center field.

Game Notes

Kansas City placed catcher Salvador Perez on the 7-day concussion disabled list prior to the game. The Royals also placed pitcher Wade Davis on the family emergency list, recalled pitcher Will Smith from Triple-A Omaha and selected the contract of catcher Brett Hayes from Omaha ... Lough left the game due to right quadriceps tightness.