Converted starter Kyle Leahy pitched a career-best six innings and the Cardinals fed off the "Tarps Off" fan energy at Busch Stadium again on Sunday in a 4-2 defeat of the Royals.
ST. LOUIS – In making the transition from high-leverage reliever in 2025 to starting pitcher in 2026, Kyle Leahy has found that it is the task of navigating a lineup three times – and not necessarily the added number of pitches – that has been the hurdle standing between him and consistent success.
On Saturday at Busch Stadium, the Cardinals’ right-hander showed some serious progress in how he navigates lineups and it paid off in a big way.
Leahy pitched a career-best six innings and limited the Royals to a run and five hits and Alec Burleson drove two runs as the Cardinals defeated Kansas City 4-2 at Busch Stadium before a crowd of 32,397 – hundreds of whom went “Tarps Off” and waived their shirts overhead.
“I mean, we all hear it, we all see it and we all feel it and it’s fun to play when you have people cheering for you and having your back,” Leahy said of the Stephen F. Austin club baseball team that started the “Tarps Off” shirt-waving flash mob sensation at Busch Stadium the last two games and was invited into the St. Louis clubhouse after the game. “It’s a good time around here and it’s a fun atmosphere right now.”
The Cardinals (27-18) won for the sixth time in the past nine games and for the 13th time in 18 games since a home sweep at the hands of the Mariners from April 24-26. Also, the Cardinals clinched another series win with Saturday’s victory and they are 4-0-2 in the six series since the Seattle sweep.
A night after rallying for their 14th come-from-behind win of the season in a 5-4 defeat of the Royals in 11 innings, the Cards played a second straight game in front of hundreds of bare-chested, shirt-waving “Tarps Off” fans in the right field seats. Stephen F. Austin’s club baseball team – playing a Division II club baseball tournament at nearby Alton, Ill. – started the flash mob trend in Friday’s game, impressing manager Oliver Marmol so much that he purchased tickets for the group for games on Saturday and Sunday. Trailing 8-4, the Lumberjacks won their game in walk-off fashion and then hurried to Busch Stadium – just in time to see the Cardinals take the lead with two runs in the fifth inning.
“Welcome back to Busch and that was a heck of a lot of fun – the atmosphere was insane (Friday) night and it was really good today,” said Marmol, who footed the bill for $1,500 tickets for the free tickets for the shirt-waving fans. “You feed off that energy, you really do. The guys have been playing hard and to do it in that environment was awesome.”
Asked if he will continue buying tickets for the boisterous, shirt-waving fans, Marmol said: “I’ll go broke. We still have time for more.”
Leahy"s length came in handy on Saturday
Leahy, 28, had a breakthrough season in 2025 by appearing in 62 games and posting a 4-2 record with 18 holds, a save and a 3.07 ERA. His final start of 2025 was his first MLB start, signaling his future for the 2026 season.
In Leahy’s eight starts before Saturday, he had pitched at least five innings seven times, but he had recorded just two outs in the sixth inning – the time when he usually tasked with going through the opposition’s lineup a third time.
On Saturday he gave up a double to Maikel Garcia in the fifth inning, but he limited the damage to one run by retiring Bobby Witt Jr. and Salvador Perez. In the sixth, he set down the side to complete a career-best six innings.
“It’s hard to nail down a simple answer, but it’s about reading what I’ve done and maybe using less (of his pitch arsenal) early in the game or just knowing what I have already used,” Leahy said of not showing hitters all his pitches early in games. “I have to compare what I have used with the notes I’ve taken on the (scouting) report and then just executing a pitch.”
Leahy's six-inning outing was well-timed as the Cardinals were without standout relievers Riley O'Brien and JoJo Romero on Sunday. Leahy's length allowed the Cardinals to ride Gordon Graceffo, Justin Bruihl and George Soriano.
The Cardinals scored two of their first three runs on sacrifice flies and got the other run when Thomas Saggese hustled in ahead of the tag on an infield grounder by Victor Scott. Saggese, who has struggled all season while playing on sporadically, broke a 0-for-30 skid in the fifth inning with a leadoff single. He moved to third on a double by Nathan Church and scored when Scott tapped to Vinnie Pasquantino at first.
“You look at the games on the road, he had some good barrels and nothing to show for it and it doesn’t matter when you’re on a skid like that,” Marmol said of Saggese’s 0-for-30 stretch. “You don’t care if you hit it 100 (mph) or 30 (mph) – you just want something to drop. He was pretty relieved (after his single) and that’s good for him and for us.”
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