St. Louis' Kyle McClellan waits as Kansas City's David DeJesus circles the bases. The Royals hit two eighth-inning home runs off McClellan and won, 3-2, Wednesday in St. Louis.

St. Louis ? For the second straight night, the Kansas City Royals leaned on the long ball to reward their starting pitcher. This time, Brian Bannister was the beneficiary.

David DeJesus and Alex Gordon homered for the tying and go-ahead runs in the eighth inning Wednesday, helping Bannister and the Royals beat the St. Louis Cardinals, 3-2.

In the series opener, Mike Aviles’ eighth-inning homer made a winner out of Kyle Davies.

“It’s a pretty good formula,” Bannister said. “I think we can get used to it.”

Last in the AL Central, the Royals improved to 6-2 in interleague play and will try for a three-game sweep of their cross-state opponent today. Kansas City had been 0-37 this season when trailing after seven innings.

“We’ve got another game tomorrow, so I don’t want to be popping off,” Royals manager Trey Hillman said. “We’ve got a long ways to come back.”

The Cardinals had won eight series and split one since losing two of three to Pittsburgh in mid-May. To salvage a game against the Royals, they’ve lined up a replacement for replacement starter Anthony Reyes, placed on the 15-day disabled list with elbow irritation.

Brad Thompson will be activated from the DL, where he’s been since April 23 with an elbow injury.

Braden Looper held the Royals scoreless on two hits until John Buck had an RBI single in the seventh. Reliever Kyle McClellan (0-2) had allowed only two home runs in 352â3 innings when he took over in the eighth with a 2-1 lead.

DeJesus hit his eighth homer with one out. Gordon connected off the rookie right-hander with two outs for his eighth homer.