Royals 3, Cardinals 2: St. Louis shortstop Tyler Greene was thrown out at home to end the game as the visiting Royals took the opener of the I-70 series.

With two outs in the ninth, Greene reached on an infield single, stole second and advanced to third on a poor throw. When the throw to third also got away, Greene tried to score but third baseman Mike Moustakas nailed him at the plate.

Vin Mazzaro pitched six shutout innings and Jeff Francoeur drove in two runs for Kansas City, which won for just the sixth time in its last 18 tries against St. Louis.

Mazzaro (3-1) allowed five hits, struck out four and walked one. Jonathan Broxton worked the ninth, allowing an infield hit to Greene, for his 16th save in 18 chances.

The Royals jumped on top in the second when Alcides Escobar doubled, stole third and scored on an infield hit. In the third, Alex Gordon doubled and scored on Jeff Francoeur’s single.

Francoeur’s seventh-inning sacrifice fly extended the lead to 3-0, with Chris Getz narrowly beating Yadier Molina's tag.

The Cards rallied for two in the bottom half on Matt Adams’ RBI double and Shane Robinson’s run-scoring single.

Kyle Lohse (6-2) took the loss, allowing three runs on 10 hits over seven innings.

GAME NOTEBOOK: Cards RF Carlos Beltran, who was playing his first game against the team that drafted him 17 years ago, returned from a stomach virus and went 2-for-4 with one stolen base in two attempts. It was the 300th steal of his career, making Beltran the first switch hitter in MLB history with 300 homers and 300 steals. ... The Royals improved to 17-14 on the road.