Kansas City, Mo. ? Yordano Ventura had a shaky first inning and a bad pitch in the sixth.

That led to four St. Louis runs, which was more than enough for Michael Wacha.

Ventura struck out seven in seven innings, but the Kansas City Royals were shut down by Wacha in a 6-1 loss on Sunday.

Salvador Perez extended his hitting streak to 10 games and singled home a run for Kansas City, which had won five in a row.

Ventura walked the first two hitters on 10 pitches and both scored. Jhonny Peralta hit an RBI single and Matt Adams doubled home a run.

“The first two hitters, he was just missing,” Royals manager Ned Yost said. “There were some pitches that I thought could have gone either way that resulted in walks. He kind of got it dialed back in a little bit, then (gave up) the checked-swing single to Peralta and then a first-pitch fastball to Adams for a double. He did a good job of limiting the damage at that point.”

Ventura (3-4), who threw 30 pitches in the first, then settled down and didn’t allow another hit until the sixth.

“Nothing changed,” Ventura said through an interpreter. “I was in trouble in the first inning. I lost the feel of it a little bit. But after that I was able to go out and throw strikes.”

Matt Carpenter hit a two-run homer for St. Louis in the sixth.

“All day the changeup felt good,” Ventura said. “I was trying to go low and away and hopefully get a double play. That was one I pulled inside and Carpenter was able to get the barrel on it.”

Wacha allowed an unearned run and five singles in seven innings, lowering his ERA to 1.87 in nine starts. He is the first Cardinals pitcher to start 7-0 since Matt Morris won his first eight decisions in 2005.

“He kept us off balance the entire game,” Kansas City center fielder Lorenzo Cain said. “He threw his heater, his slider away. He did a good job.”

Down 4-1, the Royals loaded the bases with two outs in the sixth, but Alex Gordon flied out on a 2-0 count, which Wacha said was the biggest out of the game.

“I missed on a couple of fastballs in,” Wacha said. “I didn’t want to go 3-0 on him. I just had to try to paint the inside corner and luckily got it in there enough and (Randal) Grichuk made a good play on it.”

St. Louis catcher Yadier Molina drove in two runs with a two-out single in the eighth. Adams doubled twice.

HOMESTAND OVER

The Royals went 6-2 on the homestand against the Cardinals, Reds and Yankees.

“When you’re playing a tough team like St. Louis and you win the first two games you’re disappointed when you don’t get the sweep,” Yost said. “But you look at the job that Wacha did, I’m pleased with the way the homestand went.”

RARE ERROR

CF Peter Bourjos’ error in the fifth was the first error by a Cardinals outfielder this season. The previous error for a Cardinals outfielder also was committed by Bourjos on June 11 at Tampa Bay. The outfielders went 140 games without an error.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Cardinals: LF Matt Holliday was scratched with a bruised left forearm after being hit by a pitch from Edinson Volquez on Saturday. … OF Jason Heyward (hip tightness) was held out of the lineup for the second straight day.

Royals: OF Alex Rios (fractured left hand) left Sunday to join Triple-A Omaha for a minor league rehab assignment. … 3B Mike Moustakas (bruised left clavicle) left in the fifth inning Saturday, but was in the lineup Sunday.

UP NEXT

Cardinals: RHP Carlos Martinez will start the opener of a nine-game homestand Monday against the Diamondbacks.

Royals: RHP Jeremy Guthrie, who starts the series opener at New York, is 5-10 with a 4.92 ERA in 19 appearances against the Yankees.