Cardinals 3 - 0 Royals
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Royals give Adcock first start in matchup with Cardinals

May 21, 2011 - 2:39 PM

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(Sports Network) - Nate Adcock makes his first major league start this afternoon when the Royals host the Cardinals in the middle test of a three- game series between these in-state rivals.

The 23-year-old right-hander, a Rule 5 Draft pick from Pittsburgh, has appeared in eight games in relief for the Royals with his longest outing a 3 1/3 inning stint at Detroit on April 8. Adcock was 11-7 in 27 appearances (26 starts) in 2010 for Bradenton in the Florida State League. He had never pitched above Class A before this season.

Jake Westbrook toes the rubber for the Cardinals. He's coming off a strong seven-inning effort against the Phillies in which he allowed just one run in a 4-1 victory on Monday. Westbrook is 6-3 in 21 games (15 starts) all-time against the Royals. He has a 6-7 record and a 3.56 ERA in 27 games (17 starts) of interleague action.

Last night, Jeff Francis worked into the eighth inning for his first win on an American League team, leading the Royals to a 3-0 victory.

Francis (1-5) struck out six batters in 7 2/3 innings, giving up six hits and two walks to lead the Royals to their first shutout over the Cardinals in interleague play.

Alcides Escobar hit an RBI single and Brayan Pena and Melky Cabrera both had sacrifice flies in a three-run seventh inning for Kansas City, which has won two in a row on the heels of a five-game slide.

Chris Carpenter (1-5) was yanked during Kansas City's rally in the seventh and took the loss in 6 1/3 innings. He was charged with all three runs on nine hits and struck out five without a walk.

The Cardinals got Matt Holliday back from his quad injury -- he went 1-for-3 -- but were without Lance Berkman (wrist) again. They had a four-game winning streak snapped after sweeping the Phillies and Astros in brief sets this week.

Kansas City won this I-70 series a year ago, taking two of the three matchups. However, prior to last season St. Louis had won seven of the last eight meetings.






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