What happened: JJ Wetherholt homered in consecutive innings and the St. Louis Cardinals held on to beat the Kansas City Royals 12-10 in a high-scoring interleague game in Kansas City. The Cardinals built a lead behind Wetherholt's back-to-back long balls and then survived a late Royals push to close it out.
Why it matters: The win pulls St. Louis back into the interleague set, trimming Kansas City's series lead to 2-1 after the Royals took the first two meetings. It also snaps a three-game St. Louis slide and keeps the Cardinals above .500 at 40-34, while the Royals fall to 32-45 with a streak halted.
By the numbers: St. Louis enters at 40-34 (scoring 4.6, allowing 4.5); Kansas City sits 32-45 (scoring 4.2, allowing 4.7). The Royals had won the first two games of this series and beaten St. Louis in four of their last five head-to-head meetings, including a 14-6 rout on June 18 and a 6-5 win on June 19 before this 12-10 result.
What to watch: St. Louis looks to even the series with a chance to take the next game, while Kansas City aims to bounce back after seeing its three-game winning streak end.