KANSAS CITY, Mo. (Interstat) — The St. Louis Cardinals outlasted the Kansas City Royals 12-10 on Sunday afternoon at Kauffman Stadium, surviving a late rally to snap a two-game losing streak in the Interstate 70 series.

Attendance was 28,309 for the 3-hour, 5-minute game.

The Cardinals scored in the first two innings and never trailed, but the Royals twice pulled within two runs and brought the tying run to the plate in the ninth.

St. Louis jumped on Royals starter Stephen Kolek from the first pitch. JJ Wetherholt led off the game with his 11th home run of the season, a solo shot to right-center field. After Iván Herrera was hit by a pitch and Alec Burleson walked, Jordan Walker popped out. Lars Nootbaar then doubled to left-center, scoring Herrera and sending Burleson to third. Masyn Winn followed with a three-run homer to left, his third of the year, making it 5-0. Jimmy Crooks singled, but Blaze Jordan grounded into a double play to end the inning.

The Royals answered in the bottom of the first against Cardinals starter Miles Mikolas. Carter Jensen singled, Maikel Garcia lined out, and Jac Caglianone walked. Salvador Perez grounded out, moving Jensen to third and Caglianone to second. Michael Massey singled to right, scoring both runners to cut the lead to 5-2. Lane Thomas flied out to end the inning.

St. Louis added four more in the second. Nathan Church led off with a double to right. Wetherholt hit his second home run of the game, a two-run shot to left, extending the lead to 7-2. Herrera singled, and Burleson tripled to right-center, driving in Herrera to make it 8-2. After Jordan Walker grounded out and Nootbaar grounded out, Winn singled to left, scoring Burleson for a 9-2 lead. Crooks grounded out to end the inning.

The Royals fought back in the bottom of the second. Kameron Misner singled, and Nick Loftin homered to left-center, his second of the season, cutting the lead to 9-4. Isaac Collins singled, Jensen struck out, Garcia flied out, and Caglianone hit a two-run homer to center, his 11th, making it 9-6. Perez struck out on a foul tip to end the inning.

Both teams went scoreless in the third. The Cardinals added three runs in the fifth off Kolek. After Crooks and Jordan struck out, Church walked. Wetherholt singled, moving Church to second. Herrera then homered to left-center, his 10th, scoring Church and Wetherholt to push the lead to 12-6. Burleson singled, but Walker struck out to end the inning.

Kansas City chipped away in the fourth. Collins flied out, Jensen walked, Garcia struck out, and Caglianone walked. Perez singled to center, scoring Jensen to make it 12-7. Massey flied out to end the inning.

The Royals added a run in the sixth. Isaac Collins struck out, but Carter Jensen homered to left, his 10th, cutting the lead to 12-8. Garcia grounded out and Caglianone struck out.

St. Louis had chances to add insurance but could not break through. In the sixth, Crooks was hit by a pitch and Jordan singled, but Church grounded into a forceout. In the seventh, Burleson singled, Walker was intentionally walked, but Nootbaar grounded out. In the eighth and ninth, the Cardinals went quietly.

The Royals mounted a final threat in the ninth. Caglianone led off with his second homer of the game, a solo shot to right-center, his 12th, making it 12-9. Perez was hit by a pitch. Massey singled to right, moving Perez to third. Lane Thomas reached on a fielder’s choice; Perez scored and Massey moved to second, cutting the lead to 12-10. Kameron Misner sacrificed, moving Massey to third and Thomas to second. John Rave struck out swinging, and Isaac Collins grounded out to end the game.

Gordon Graceffo earned the win, throwing a scoreless fifth inning in relief. He allowed no hits and struck out none, improving to 5-1. Stephen Kolek took the loss, surrendering nine earned runs on 10 hits and two walks in 1 1/3 innings, falling to 4-2.

Key performances in the game, in order of importance, included: Matt Svanson pitched 0⅔ innings, allowing one hit and no earned runs with one strikeout; Jordan Walker went 0 for 4; Nathan Church was 1 for 4; Lars Nootbaar was 2 for 5 with one RBI; Gordon Graceffo pitched one inning, allowing no hits; JoJo Romero pitched one inning, allowing one hit and one earned run with two strikeouts; JJ Wetherholt was 3 for 5 with two home runs and three RBI; Blaze Jordan was 1 for 5; Alec Burleson was 3 for 5 with one RBI; Riley O’Brien pitched one inning, allowing two hits and two earned runs with one strikeout.

The Cardinals improved to 41-34, while the Royals fell to 32-46. St. Louis had 16 hits and Kansas City 12. The game featured six home runs combined.

The series concluded with the Royals winning two of three, having taken the first two games June 18 and 19 by scores of 6-5 and 14-6. The Cardinals won the season series 3-2, having taken two of three at Busch Stadium in May.

St. Louis returns home to host the Arizona Diamondbacks for a four-game series beginning Monday. Kansas City travels to Tampa Bay to face the Rays for a four-game set starting Monday.

Interstat’s game simulator projected a final score of St. Louis 5, Kansas City 4. Interstat’s ELO system gave St. Louis a 50.70 percent probability to win. St. Louis was a pregame favorite with a spread of minus 1.5. The total of 22 runs went under the over-under line of 9.