ST. LOUIS (Interstat) — Stephen Kolek pitched 6 1/3 scoreless innings, Salvador Perez homered and drove in both runs, and the Kansas City Royals defeated the St. Louis Cardinals 2-0 on Sunday afternoon at Busch Stadium III.

Kolek scattered four hits, struck out three and walked one to improve to 2-0 on the season. The right-hander, who had allowed five earned runs in his previous start at Chicago, retired 10 of the final 12 batters he faced before exiting with one out in the seventh. Lucas Erceg recorded the final three outs for his 11th save, and Daniel Lynch IV bridged the gap with 1 2/3 scoreless innings of relief.

Andre Pallante took the loss despite a strong outing for St. Louis. The right-hander allowed one earned run on eight hits over 6 2/3 innings, striking out seven and walking none. He worked out of several jams, leaving seven Royals on base, but a two-run swing in the first and fourth innings proved decisive.

Kansas City struck first in the opening inning. Maikel Garcia led off with a sharp single to center field and advanced to third when Vinnie Pasquantino followed with a line-drive single that center fielder Victor Scott II misplayed for an error. Perez then lifted a sacrifice fly to left field, scoring Garcia for a 1-0 lead.

Pallante settled in after that, setting down six consecutive batters at one point and striking out five over the next three innings. But Perez delivered the game’s biggest blow in the fourth, launching a solo home run to left field, his seventh of the season, to double the Royals’ lead to 2-0.

The Cardinals threatened only sporadically. They put two runners on in the third inning on a walk by JJ Wetherholt and a force out that left Ivan Herrera on first, but Alec Burleson flied out to end the threat. In the fourth, Masyn Winn was hit by a pitch but was stranded when Nathan Church flied out to center.

St. Louis mounted its best chance in the seventh. Nolan Gorman singled to right field off Kolek, and after a force out put Masyn Winn on first, Church flied out. Lynch then entered and induced a force out from Thomas Saggese to end the inning. In the eighth, Herrera singled with two outs but Burleson flied out. The Cardinals went down in order in the ninth, with Erceg striking out one and inducing a groundout to finish the game.

Kyle Isbel had two hits for Kansas City, including a double, and Michael Massey and Carter Jensen each added singles. For St. Louis, Herrera went 1 for 4, and Alec Burleson, Masyn Winn, Nolan Gorman and Thomas Saggese each had one hit. The Cardinals managed only five hits and struck out four times.

The victory snapped a five-game losing streak for Kansas City, which improved to 20-27. The Royals lost the first two games of this three-game series against their intrastate rivals, falling 4-2 on Saturday and 5-4 on Friday. St. Louis dropped to 27-19, its four-game winning streak halted.

Attendance was 38,051, and the game lasted 2 hours, 40 minutes.

The Royals return home Monday to begin a three-game series against the Boston Red Sox. St. Louis hosts the Pittsburgh Pirates for a three-game set starting Tuesday.

Interstat’s game simulator had projected a final score of St. Louis 6, Kansas City 3, and the ELO system gave St. Louis a 55.30 percent probability to win. The Cardinals were installed as a pregame favorite with a spread of minus 1.5. The total of two runs went over the over-under line of 9.5.