ARCHIVE June 18, 2026
June 18, 2026 · AL Cent

St. Louis Cardinals vs Kansas City Royals

June 18, 2026Kauffman StadiumPartly Cloudy 76°F · 7 mph, L To R
AWAY
St. Louis Cardinals
40-33
6
vs
HOME
Kansas City Royals
31-45
14

Game Highlights

Published June 18, 2026 · Source: MLB

Scoring summary

INN BATTER PLAY SCORE
T1 Jordan Walker Jordan Walker reaches on a fielder's choice. JJ Wetherholt scores. Iván Herrera to 3rd. Fielding error by shortstop Bobby Witt Jr. STL 1, KC 0
T1 Alec Burleson Alec Burleson out on a sacrifice fly to center fielder Lane Thomas. Iván Herrera scores. STL 2, KC 0
B1 Bobby Witt Jr. Bobby Witt Jr. homers (10) on a fly ball to left center field. STL 2, KC 1
B2 Carter Jensen Carter Jensen doubles (15) on a sharp line drive to left fielder Nelson Velázquez. Salvador Perez scores. STL 2, KC 2
B2 Isaac Collins Isaac Collins doubles (9) on a ground ball to left fielder Nelson Velázquez. Carter Jensen scores. STL 2, KC 3
B2 Michael Massey Michael Massey reaches on a fielding error by left fielder Nelson Velázquez. Isaac Collins scores. Michael Massey to 2nd. STL 2, KC 4
B2 Lane Thomas Lane Thomas doubles (5) on a sharp line drive to left fielder Nelson Velázquez. Michael Massey scores. STL 2, KC 5
B2 Bobby Witt Jr. Bobby Witt Jr. singles on a ground ball to right fielder Jordan Walker. Lane Thomas scores. Bobby Witt Jr. to 2nd. STL 2, KC 6
B2 Starling Marte Starling Marte doubles (4) on a sharp line drive to right fielder Jordan Walker. Bobby Witt Jr. scores. STL 2, KC 7
T4 Jordan Walker Jordan Walker singles on a ground ball to shortstop Bobby Witt Jr. Blaze Jordan scores. José Fermín to 3rd. Iván Herrera to 2nd. STL 3, KC 7
B4 Jac Caglianone Jac Caglianone homers (9) on a line drive to left center field. Tyler Tolbert scores. STL 3, KC 9
B4 Nick Loftin Nick Loftin doubles (12) on a ground ball to left fielder Nelson Velázquez. Starling Marte scores. Carter Jensen scores. STL 3, KC 11
T5 José Fermín José Fermín singles on a line drive to right fielder Starling Marte. Masyn Winn scores. STL 4, KC 11
B6 Salvador Perez Salvador Perez homers (10) on a fly ball to left field. STL 4, KC 12
T7 José Fermín José Fermín grounds out, shortstop Tyler Tolbert to first baseman Jac Caglianone. Masyn Winn scores. Blaze Jordan to 3rd. STL 5, KC 12
T7 Pedro Pagés Pedro Pagés out on a sacrifice fly to right fielder Starling Marte. Blaze Jordan scores. STL 6, KC 12
B7 Lane Thomas Lane Thomas singles on a ground ball to center fielder José Fermín. Isaac Collins scores. STL 6, KC 13
B8 Carter Jensen Carter Jensen pops out to shortstop José Fermín. STL 6, KC 14

Box score

  123456789 R
STL 200110200 6
KC 160401110 14

Pitching & bullpen

How the game was pitched — the starters, the bullpen sequence and each arm's role, and the pitch counts behind them.

Cardinals AWAY 6

Matthew Liberatore started for Cardinals, leaving trailing 2–7. Out of the bullpen, Gordon Graceffo took the roughest line.

workload · innings pitched
  • Matthew Liberatore Starter 1.2 48 7 2 L
    Pitch-by-pitch: what Matthew Liberatore threw
    CSW 27% 1st-pitch strike 69% 3.7 pitches/PA
    Pitch#%WhiffCSFoulBallIn play
    Four-Seam Fastball 18 38% 1 4 4 5 4
    Curveball 11 23% 0 4 1 5 1
    Slider 10 21% 3 1 2 4 0
    Changeup 5 10% 0 0 0 2 3
    Sinker 3 6% 0 0 1 0 2
    Cutter 1 2% 0 0 0 0 1
  • Gordon Graceffo Middle 1.2 47 4 0 inherited 1, stranded 1
  • Max Rajcic Middle 2.0 33 1 1 inherited 2, all 2 scored
  • Justin Bruihl Middle 2.2 39 2 2
Royals HOME 14

Noah Cameron started for Royals, leaving with a 11–4 lead. Out of the bullpen, Mason Black took the roughest line.

workload · innings pitched
  • Noah Cameron Starter 5.0 108 4 6 W
    Pitch-by-pitch: what Noah Cameron threw
    CSW 31% 1st-pitch strike 52% 4.0 pitches/PA
    Pitch#%WhiffCSFoulBallIn play
    Four-Seam Fastball 32 30% 3 4 8 13 4
    Changeup 24 22% 4 6 1 9 4
    Curveball 20 19% 3 3 2 9 3
    Cutter 16 15% 1 3 5 3 4
    Slider 8 7% 2 0 1 3 2
    Sinker 8 7% 1 3 0 3 1
  • Mason Black Reliever 2.0 40 2 0
  • Beck Way Middle 2.0 36 0 2

Where the game turned

1 run Bottom 2nd · off Liberatore
  • Collins 2B (1)

Batting lines

AWAY · STL
BATTER ABRHRBIBBK AVGOBPSLGOPS NOTES
JJ Wetherholt 2B 4 1 3 0 2 0 .266 .369 .408 .777 2B
Iván Herrera DH 4 1 0 0 1 2 .257 .396 .414 .810
Jimmy Crooks C 1 0 0 0 0 1 .182 .289 .333 .622
Nelson Velázquez RF 4 0 1 0 1 1 .323 .382 .581 .963 2B
Blaze Jordan 3B 5 2 2 0 0 0 .308 .333 .577 .910 2B
José Fermín SS 5 0 2 2 0 0 .272 .321 .379 .700
Pedro Pagés 1B 4 0 0 1 0 1 .220 .257 .362 .619
Jordan Walker RF 4 0 2 1 1 1 .291 .345 .537 .882
Alec Burleson 1B 3 0 0 1 1 1 .282 .345 .482 .827
Masyn Winn SS 5 2 3 0 0 1 .242 .321 .324 .645 2B
HOME · KC
BATTER ABRHRBIBBK AVGOBPSLGOPS NOTES
Lane Thomas CF 5 1 2 2 0 0 .232 .359 .364 .723 2B
Tyler Tolbert SS 2 1 0 0 1 2 .211 .318 .211 .529
Jac Caglianone 1B 5 1 1 2 0 1 .266 .338 .439 .777 HR (9)
Starling Marte RF 5 2 3 1 0 1 .277 .330 .361 .691 2B
Salvador Perez C 5 2 3 1 0 0 .207 .250 .342 .592 HR (10), 2B
Carter Jensen DH 5 2 2 1 0 0 .238 .304 .424 .728 2 2B
Nick Loftin 3B 5 0 2 2 0 1 .245 .348 .400 .748 2 2B
Isaac Collins LF 5 2 2 1 0 0 .221 .336 .308 .644 2B, SB
Michael Massey 2B 3 1 0 0 1 0 .256 .277 .457 .734
Bobby Witt Jr. SS 2 2 2 2 0 0 .294 .368 .465 .833 HR (10)

Pitching lines

AWAY · STL
PITCHER IPHRERBBKHR NPERA DEC
Matthew Liberatore 1.2 7 7 5 0 2 1 48 5.23 L
Gordon Graceffo 1.2 4 4 4 2 0 1 47 3.06
Max Rajcic 2.0 2 1 1 0 1 1 33 4.50
Justin Bruihl 2.2 4 2 1 0 2 0 39 4.41
HOME · KC
PITCHER IPHRERBBKHR NPERA DEC
Noah Cameron 5.0 8 4 3 2 6 0 108 4.20 W
Mason Black 2.0 3 2 2 2 0 0 40 3.57
Beck Way 2.0 2 0 0 2 2 0 36 4.91

Manager comparison

AWAY · STL
Oliver Marmol
Oliver Marmol
Lineup 2.1 R Bunts 2.3 R IBBs 1.2 R
HOME · KC
Matt Quatraro
Matt Quatraro
Lineup 3.1 R Bunts 1.6 R IBBs 1.5 R

Recent form

AWAY · STL
5-5 W2 -6 run diff
WWLLLWWLWL
HOME · KC
5-5 W1 +7 run diff
WLWWWLLWLL

Season series: 1-2 with STL listed first across 3 prior meetings.

Keep reading

How RunsLeft analyzes games

Standard content on this page comes from the MLB Stats API. The pitching analysis describes how the game was pitched — the starter's line, the bullpen sequence and each arm's role (opener, bulk, setup, closer), pitch counts as a fatigue signal, and the leverage context where the game turned. Reliever roles are inferred from how the manager used each arm up to that date. It describes structure and constraints; it does not grade the manager.

Read the full methodology.

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