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It didn't take long to figure out it was going to be a long, wild game Saturday afternoon at Busch Stadium, but at the end of the 3:38 affair, the St. Louis Cardinals had managed a 10-7 win over the Kansas City Royals. 

K.C.'s Alex Gordon and Chris Getz started the game with back to back singles. First baseman Eric Hosmer then hit a ball back to the mound that pitcher Joe Kelly fielded, then he threw to first. Next, after being alerted by his teammates that both runners had moved up 90 feet, Kelly threw to second where shortstop Rafael Furcal stepped on the bag for an apparent triple play. The Cardinals headed for the dugout. But home plate umpire Kerwin Danley and the other umpires conferred and ruled the ball hit the ground and only one out was recorded at first base.

Cardinals Manager Mike Matheny stormed out of the dugout, arguing the call for several minutes before walking away and coming back for more. That's when Danley threw him out of the game. Moments later, Mike Moustakas got a base hit to put Kansas City ahead 1-0.

The crew chief for the umpires, Dana DeMuth, spoke to St. Louis Post Dispatch writer Rick Hummel, who asked questions on behalf of reporters after the game. "Our main concern was to get the right call," DeMuth said. "And when I got everybody together, nobody had a catch. Kerwin's arm went up when I pointed at him. I wanted a call of 'no-catch' or 'catch.' I was trying to signal, 'Give me something.' Kerwin just gave something without knowing it was a catch. He wasn't 100 percent sure. So, because of where the runners were and an out was made on it, I could get the right call. Nobody scored and those two people (Gordon, Getz) could stay where they were."

First-base umpire Paul Nauert made the out call at first. "I knew somebody was out," he said.

DeMuth says according to a replay he saw on his computer, the ball bounced about six inches in front of Kelly. "Plainly, it was a mistake by us. But we did the right thing by getting it right."

Matheny told reporters after the game the reason he returned to the field was to file a protest but was told he couldn't protest a "judgement call."

DeMuth says he didn't hear what caused Danley to eject the Cards manager. "Mike was totally classy with it. He never said that we changed it to a bad call. He never said that we got it wrong. He said, 'I want two outs.' Mike even said, 'I want you guys to get back together and figure out a way to give me two outs. That's all I want.' I couldn't laugh, but he did say that."

Matheny says ultimately, it appeared the ball was not caught, but his argument revolved around something different. "They reversed something that really was already called. It was almost like they changed the call more so than somebody else seeing something different. The problem was is it was a call made, in my mind, at that time, and that would have dictated what happened next." 

Matheny's ejection seemed to jump start the home team's offense as St. Louis banged out four hits in the bottom of the 1st, including a pair of two run home runs by Matt Holliday and Yadier Molina. Holliday's blast to left was measured at 431 feet. At the end of a long first inning, the Cardinals had a 4-1 lead.

St. Louis added two more runs in the bottom of the 2nd on Carlos Beltran's RBI single, followed by Holliday's run scoring double that put the Cards ahead 6-1.

But the Royals scored single runs in the 4th, 5th and 6th innings and all of a sudden, it was a 6-4 game heading to the 7th.

Kansas City plated three runs in the top of the 7th to take a 7-6 lead. After a walk to Hosmer, Jeff Francoeur, Moustakas, and Brayan Pena singled. Alcides Escobar's base hit, the fourth straight in the inning, scored two runs and put the Royals ahead.

But the Cardinals offense had an answer, scoring three runs in the bottom of the inning. Holliday, who had four hits and drove in five runs on the afternoon, knocked in a run with a base hit, and Molina stroked a two out single as two more runners crossed the plate to make it 9-7 Cardinals.

Holliday's double in the 8th gave St. Louis its tenth run on the afternoon for the final of 10-7 as Jason Motte pitched the 9th to earn his 14th save of the season.

Mitchell Boggs (1-1), one of six Cardinal relievers to appear in the game, earned the win. Tim Collins (4-1) took the loss for Kansas City.

Kelly, who made only his second major league start, allowed three runs on seven hits in 4 1/3 innings. Bruce Chen also got a no-decision, giving up six runs on seven hits in 1 2/3 innings for the Royals.

The Cardinals improve to 34-32 on the season, while the Royals, who came into the day only five games out of first in the American League Central, fall to 28-35.

The I-70 series at Busch Stadium wraps up Sunday afternoon with another 1:15 start. Adam Wainwright (5-7, 4.75 ERA) will take the mound for St. Louis against the Royals' Luis Mendoza (2-3, 4.89 ERA).

Game notes:

Mike Matheny's ejection in the 1st inning was his second as a major league manager. His first occurred on April 24th at Chicago.

Matt Holliday had five RBI and Yadier Molina drove in four runs for the Cardinals on Saturday. The last time St. Louis had two players with 4 RBI in the same game was July 26th, 2007 vs. Chicago when Albert Pujols had 5 RBI and Chris Duncan drove in four on a grand slam.

The 17 runs scored between the Cardinals and Royals is the most between the two teams in a game played in St. Louis, surpassing the 16 runs combined on July 2nd, 2006.