ST. LOUIS  — Yuniesky Betancourt started the game on the Kansas City bench. He ended it by getting the biggest hit of the day.

Betancourt was called upon in the first inning when Chris Getz sustained a leg injury. In the 15th, he hit a two-run homer with two outs to lift the Royals to a 5-3 win over the St. Louis Cardinals on Sunday.

“I don’t even know if I could (describe it),” Kansas City manager Ned Yost said. “We won, that’s all I can say.”

Yost and Cardinals manager Mike Matheny combined to use all 43 position players in the 5-hour game.

Betancourt gave the Royals a 3-2 lead in the 14th on an RBI double, but Kansas City closer Jonathan Broxton (1-1) gave it back. Betancourt then came through with his next opportunities.

“That’s destiny,” Betancourt said of his two RBI chances through an interpreter. “It was my opportunity to put the team ahead twice. I was trying to do my best and it happened.”

Down to their last strike in the ninth, pinch-hitter Billy Butler homered off Cardinals closer Jason Motte for the Royals to tie it. The home run was Butler’s 12th, but the first of his career as a pinch hitter.

“He blew the pitch right before by me,” Butler said. “I just figured I had to shorten up and put the barrel on it. That’s what I did.”

Jarrod Dyson began 15th inning with a bunt single off St. Louis reliever Eduardo Sanchez (0-1). Dyson was sacrificed to second and, after an out, Betancourt hit an 0-1 pitch into the Royals’ bullpen.

Alex Gordon opened the 14th with his fifth walk, tying the club record he set on July 30, 2008, at Oakland.

Yadier Molina, the last available St. Louis position player, had a pinch-hit RBI single in the 14th off Broxton to tie it 3-all. Broxton was perfect in the 15th for the victory.

“This is as tough as they have been,” Matheny said. “I don’t know any other way to say it.”

Butler hit an 0-2 pitch from Motte 438 feet over the Cardinals’ bullpen in left to tie the game 2-2. Motte has blown four saves in 18 chances.

“I was obviously trying to go for the strikeout and throw it by him,” Motte said. “He guessed right and hit it out of the ballpark.”

Matt Holliday and Allen Craig hit back-to-back home runs for the Cardinals and Carlos Beltran extended his hitting streak to 10 games with a first-inning single. Beltran is batting .462 (18 for 39) during his streak.

Humberto Quintero drove in the Royals’ other run with an RBI single in the second off Cardinals starter Adam Wainwright, who allowed one run in seven innings.

Royals starter Luis Mendoza was cruising with a 1-0 lead with one out in the sixth when Holliday hit a 434-foot drive to the bleachers in left-center. The homer was Holliday’s second in two days and 12th overall. Two pitches later, Craig hit his eighth home run down the line in left, a 400-foot shot, to give the Cardinals a 2-1 advantage.

Mendoza lasted six innings, giving up two runs while striking out five and walking one.

NOTES: Umpire Kerwin Danley, who was treated for dehydration after working the plate Saturday, was on medical leave Sunday. He was replaced by Mike Estabrook. … Royals second baseman Chris Getz left the game with a lower leg strain while trying to get to Beltran’s first-inning single. … Cardinals shortstop Rafael Furcal, mired in a 2-for-31 slump, was not in the starting lineup for the second time in three games. … Mendoza has not won since May 13 (three starts). … The homers by Holliday and Craig marked the sixth time the Cardinals have gone back-to-back. . . . Holliday left the game in the eighth for a pinch runner due to what Matheny said was a leg injury. “He’s got a little something going on,” Matheny said. “We got to a situation where we could get him out and it made sense.”

ST. LOUIS  — The Kansas City Royals did just fine at the plate Saturday.

They broke out of a recent slump, getting a season-high 14 hits and overcoming a five-run deficit to take the lead.

Matt Holliday and the St. Louis Cardinals, however, did a little better.

Holliday homered and drove in five runs and Yadier Molina homered and drove in four, leading the Cardinals to a 10-7 win over the Royals.

Mike Moustakas homered and tied a career high with four RBIs as Kansas City’s season high-tying four-game winning streak ended.

“We put together some really good at bats,” Moustakas said. “It’s starting to come together.”

Kansas City, which has scored an AL-low 244 runs, had managed three runs or fewer in seven of its previous nine games. Trailing 6-1, the Royals rallied to take a one-run lead.

“We’re going to get this thing rolling,” Moustakas said.

Holliday also doubled twice and singled. Molina broke a 7-all tie with a two-run, bases-loaded single off reliever Greg Holland in the seventh inning.

St. Louis won for the third time in four games.

Cardinals manager Mike Matheny was ejected in the first after umpires overruled an initial call that temporarily led to a temporary triple play.

With runners on first and second, Eric Hosmer hit a hard shot that St. Louis pitcher Joe Kelly snared near the ground and threw to first. After first baseman Matt Adams tossed the ball back to the mound, Kelly then threw to second for the apparent third out.

But after a three-minute conference that included crew chief Dana DeMuth, the umpires ruled that the ball hit the ground. Bench coach Mike Aldrete took over for Matheny.

“I saw the ball bounce,” Hosmer said.

Matheny said he wasn’t arguing about the reversal. Instead, he said he was upset that the umpires didn’t make an immediate ruling on Hosmer’s ball.

“The issue was, the pitcher came up with the ball looking for a call to be made,” Matheny said. “The play was not to first base if we get a quick ruling on what it is. That was my argument.”

Said DeMuth: “Our main concern was to get the call right. When I got everybody together, nobody had a catch.”

Holliday and Molina each hit two-run homers in the first off Bruce Chen, who gave up six earned runs on seven hits over 1 2-3 innings, his shortest start of the season.

“I’m definitely not very happy with the way I pitched,” Chen said. “I just didn’t pitch well enough to help my team win.”

Mitchell Boggs (1-1) picked up the win with 1 1-3 innings of scoreless relief. Jason Motte recorded his 14th save in 17 chances.

Tim Collins (4-1) took the loss.

Alcides Escobar had a two-run single in the seventh to give the Royals a 7-6 lead.

Holliday, who began the day in an 0-for-12 rut, tied it with an RBI single in the seventh. Allen Craig walked to load the bases for Molina.

Kansas City came back with single runs in the fourth, fifth and sixth innings before taking the lead with three in the seventh. Hosmer walked and Jeff Francoeur singled before Moustakas added an RBI hit. Brayan Pena followed an infield single to load the bases and Escobar poked a hit to right to give the Royals a 7-6 lead.

“I was really proud of the offense, the way they stayed after it,” Kansas City manager Ned Yost said. “Down 6-1, they just kept putting together good at-bats. We battled back and got the lead, but from the seventh inning on (our pitchers) just really struggled to command the ball.”

Kelly, making his second major league start, gave up two earned runs on seven hits in 4 1-3 innings.

Carlos Beltran added three hits and extended his hitting streak to nine games. He pushed the lead to 5-1 with an RBI single and Holliday followed with an RBI double.

Moustakas hit his 10th homer in the fourth. He also had a run-scoring single in the first and an RBI groundout in the fifth.

NOTES: The Royals’ five previous games had all been decided by one run. They won four. … Kansas City RHP Luis Mendoza (2-3, 4.89 ERA) will face Adam Wainwright (5-7, 4.75) in the series finale on Sunday. Mendoza took a no-hit bid into the seventh of his previous start, a 2-1 win over Milwaukee on Tuesday. … The Cardinals are 39-29 in regular-season meetings with their cross-state neighbors.

ST. LOUIS — Mike Moustakas cut down Tyler Greene at the plate to end the game, capping a wild ninth inning and preserving the Kansas City Royals’ 3-2 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals on Friday night.

Greene reached on a two-out infield hit for his third single of the game, stole second and advanced on catcher Bryan Pena’s wild throw. He tried to score on another off-line throw by second baseman Chris Getz, but third baseman Moustakas made a strong throw to nip Greene at home.

The crazy finish came after Yadier Molina eased up on what he believed was an infield hit to start the St. Louis ninth. The catcher belatedly sped up after Alcides Escobar’s diving stop, and the shortstop made a strong throw to first as Molina banged his helmet with his hands.

Vin Mazzaro worked six scoreless innings and Jeff Francoeur had two RBIs for Kansas City, which matched its longest winning streak of the season with its fourth consecutive victory. Jarrod Dyson added two hits, a walk and an RBI.

Jonathan Broxton worked the ninth for his 16th save in 18 chances and No. 100 for his career.

The Royals also won four straight from May 12-15 at the Chicago White Sox and Texas.

Carlos Beltran had two hits and stole his 300th base in the second, becoming the first switch hitter in major league history with 300 home runs and 300 steals. Beltran then was caught stealing third by Mazzaro’s pickoff throw during the next at-bat.

The Royals trail the Interstate 70 rivalry 38-29, but are 14-14 in St. Louis.

The Cardinals’ Kyle Lohse (6-2) scattered 10 hits in seven innings, giving up three runs. Lohse has worked at least five innings in all but two of his 20 career starts against the Royals.

Mazzaro (3-1) blanked the opposition through six innings for the second time in three starts, needing just 80 pitches while keeping the Cardinals off balance. Matt Holliday was an easy out all three times after entering the game 4 for 5 with a homer and three RBIs against the 25-year-old right-hander.

Mazzaro was briefly visited by a trainer in his last inning, but no reason was given for his exit. He gave up four runs, three earned, in three-plus innings in a loss at Pittsburgh in his previous start.

Alcides Escobar doubled with two outs in the second and scored on Dyson’s infield hit, and Alex Gordon doubled leading off the third and scored on Francoeur’s single.

Francoeur added a sacrifice fly in the seventh as the Royals built a 3-0 lead.

Matt Adams had an RBI double and pinch-hitter Shane Robinson delivered a run-scoring single as the Cardinals jumped on Roman Colon in the bottom half to pull within one.

Colon, recalled from Triple-A Omaha on Thursday to bolster an overworked bullpen, made his first major league appearance since 2010 when he made the opening-day roster and appeared in just five games.

Dyson has three hits the last two games since ending an 0-for-13 slump.

NOTES: Royals manager Ned Yost said he would platoon Eric Hosmer and Billy Butler, the regular DH, at 1B in interleague games at NL parks. … Cardinals SS and leadoff man Rafael Furcal, mired in a 1-for-24 slump, got a day off. “I don’t think it’s necessarily anything mechanical, it’s just physically he’s beat,” manager Mike Matheny said. … Cardinals second-round pick Carson Kelly, a high school 3B from Beaverton, Ore., signed and betrayed no sense of awe in an impressive round of batting practice, with Matheny and batting coach Mark McGwire watching from beyond the cage. Matheny joked that the usual over-under on draftees is no balls hit out of the cage the first time around. “Most kids want to come up here and just start launching,” Matheny said, “and they walk out with their head hanging low.” … Kansas City’s Alex Gordon has scored in eight straight games after entering the game the only player in the majors with a pair of seven-game streaks with a run scored, according to STATS LLC.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Royals manager Ned Yost and outfielder Jeff Francoeur both had been ejected long before the ninth inning of Thursday night’s game against Milwaukee, so they had to settle for watching its dramatic conclusion on television.

They both saw Brayan Pena deliver an RBI single to tie the game.

Neither of them saw Jarrod Dyson cross home plate with the winning run.

“I don’t know what happened! They didn’t do a real good job of showing it on TV,” Yost said with a broad smile in the moments afterward. “Frenchy and I were watching it on TV and started pushing each other, and all of a sudden, Dyson is sliding across home plate.”

Pena had rounded first base when Brewers shortstop Edwin Maysonet cut off the throw from left field, and he made the mistake of firing to second base. That allowed the speedy Dyson to take off for home, his slide giving the Royals a 4-3 victory and three-game sweep.

“Ned had to pull me back because I was going to run out there and celebrate,” Francoeur said. “He had to remind me that you can’t go back down there after you’ve been thrown out.”

The wild ninth inning began when Mitch Maier reached first base while striking out on a wild pitch against Brewers closer John Axford (1-3), who also blew a save chance the previous night.

Milwaukee had pulled ahead in the eighth when Carlos Gomez singled off Luke Hochevar, and Maysonet laid down a sacrifice to get him into scoring position. Pinch-hitter Cody Ransom singled to left off reliever Jose Mijares to give Milwaukee the lead.

The run put Shaun Marcum in line to pick up his fourth straight win — at least, until everything unraveled for the second straight night for Axford.

He allowed Escobar’s two-run triple in the ninth inning on Wednesday night, and the Royals went on to win the game when Mike Moustakas drew a bases-loaded walk in the 11th inning.

“Even when I felt good today and was hitting my spots, except for one bad pitch, it still didn’t work out in my favor,” Axford said. “I felt great. Everything was coming out straight, everything was coming out fine.”

For a while, everything was going just fine.

Axford struck out Maier to lead off the ninth, but the pitch in the dirt skipped away and Maier went to first base. Axford rallied to retire Moustakas and Alcides Escobar.

That brought up the light-hitting Dyson, who managed to draw a walk. Pena came in to pinch hit for Humberto Quintero and singled to left, the start of a bizarre ending to a ballgame.

“I was trying to make good contact, put the ball in play,” Pena said. “I knew we had some speed on the base paths. I just tried to make something happen.”

Tim Collins (4-0) worked the ninth inning to pick up the win for the Royals, who wrapped up a three-game sweep to build some momentum for their upcoming road trip.

Ryan Braun and Aramis Ramirez each homered for Milwaukee, which got 7 2-3 innings from Shaun Marcum in one of his best performances of the year. The only real mistake he made was the two-run homer he served up to Eric Hosmer in the seventh inning.

“We played a good game until that last inning,” Brewers manager Ron Roenicke said. “Same thing. We let it get away again.”

Francoeur and Yost had both ended up in the clubhouse by the fourth inning.

The outfielder was ejected in the second inning by plate umpire Dan Iassogna for arguing a called third strike, and Yost was tossed when he started arguing with Iassogna over a bunt attempt by the Brewers’ Nyjer Morgan a couple of innings later.

It was a particularly embarrassing ejection for Francoeur, who is the namesake of a promotion for Thursday night home games. Fans can purchase tickets for $21 — his jersey number — and receive a T-shirt, drink coupon and seat in the “Frenchy Quarter” section overlooking right field.

Several hundred fans wearing the yellow shirts booed as Francoeur was ejected.

“I might have to invite them all out for a `Frenchy Quarter’ Wednesday,” he said.

NOTES: The Royals optioned 1B Clint Robinson to Triple-A Omaha and purchased the contract of RHP Roman Colon. … Kansas City signed its second-round draft pick, Vanderbilt LHP Sam Selman. … Alice Cooper threw out the ceremonial first pitch. … Milwaukee travels to Minnesota for a three-game series starting Friday night. RHP Yovani Gallardo gets the start. The Royals head to St. Louis for a three-game series with RHP Vin Mazzaro on the mound.