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KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Cardinals manager Mike Matheny could have come up with more promising road trips than one against the red-hot Cubs and World Series champion Royals, with a long flight to Seattle smashed right in between.The fact that St. Louis won five of eight left him grinning like a schoolboy.Thats a good trip. This was a tough ask, Matheny said after an 8-4 victory over Kansas City on Tuesday night evened their four-game, two-city series. This has been a tough month, a lot of games on the road.Just about everybody in the Cardinals lineup contributed to the offense, while Michael Wacha (4-7) allowed four runs over six bumpy innings -- he served up nine hits and three walks.His bullpen nearly gave away the win, too: Seung Hwan Oh loaded the bases with one out in the ninth before getting pinch-hitter Alex Gordon to pop out and inducing Eric Hosmer into a routine fielders choice.I dont want to put the team in that situation, Oh said through a translator.Meanwhile, Yordano Ventura (6-5) allowed seven runs on seven hits, three walks and a hit batter in 5 1/3 innings for Kansas City. Ventura had only allowed one run over his last two starts, both of which came before an eight-game suspension for his role in a benches-clearing brawl during a game June 7 in Baltimore.As if things werent bad enough for Kansas City, Lorenzo Cain grabbed his left hamstring while trying to beat out an infield hit in the seventh inning. The All-Star outfielder left the game and declined to speak to reporters in the clubhouse, though he was walking without much of a limp.I wish I had an answer for you but it doesnt happen that quick, Royals manager Ned Yost said. Well have an MRI soon as they can get him in. Well determine how much fluid is on it and what the extent is.The cross-state series shifts to St. Louis for two more games beginning Wednesday night.Ventura actually breezed through the first inning on just 12 pitches, but trouble came promptly in the second. He gave up three hits, walked two and Yadier Molina, Kolten Wong and Greg Garcia drove in runs.He appeared to settle down over the next couple innings before more trouble hit in the fifth.Matt Carpenter started it with a homer to center, the 48th allowed by a Kansas City pitcher this month -- the club record is 51 in May 2006. Matt Adams added a sacrifice fly later in the inning to make it 5-2.Venturas night was done in the sixth, when another hit and walk brought Yost ambling from the dugout. Carpenter provided an RBI double and Brandon Moss and Matt Holliday made it 8-2 before reliever Brian Flynn finally got the Royals out of the inning.Kansas City tacked on two runs in the bottom half before its comeback collapsed in the ninth.We had some opportunities. We capitalized in the second inning, Yost said. We had a couple of more opportunities. We made it exciting in the ninth inning, but couldnt make anything happen.YOURE OUTTA HEREPlate umpire Tim Timmons tossed Royals RHP Edinson Volquez from the bench during the third inning, though it was unclear what prompted the ejection. It was the second time Volquez has been ejected in his career.ROSTER MOVESThe Cardinals activated C Brayan Pena (left knee surgery) from the DL and designated C Eric Fryer for assignment. Pena signed a $5 million, two-year deal to backup Yadier Molina but has not played this season.TRAINERS ROOMCardinals SS Aledyms Diaz had no structural damage after fouling a ball off the ground Monday night that ricocheted back off his forehead. He experienced blurry vision in his right eye and visited the hospital after the game, but manager Mike Matheny said Tuesday that Diaz should be back in a few days.UP NEXTRHP Carlos Martinez takes the mound for the Cardinals while Kansas City counters with Volquez on the mound at Busch Stadium. Martinez is 3-0 in his last five starts. Drew Bledsoe Patriots Jersey . Brett Kulak and Jackson Houck of the Vancouver Giants were each charged with assault causing bodily harm on Aug. 18, according to the B.C. court services. Steve Grogan Jersey .ca looks back at the stories and moments that made the year memorable. http://www.shoptheofficialpatriots.com/Elite-Julian-Edelman-Patriots-Jersey/ . On Saturday night, the normally free throw-challenged centre did just that. Howard scored 18 of his 25 points in the fourth quarter, including 13 of 19 free throws in a 2 1/2-minute stretch, and the Houston Rockets beat the Denver Nuggets 122-111. Stephon Gilmore Jersey . -- Brandon Jennings made the most of his first game with the Detroit Pistons on Sunday night. Irving Fryar Youth Jersey . Takahashi, who had a 10-point lead after the short program, received 268.31 points after the free skate to finish 15 points ahead of second-place Nobunari Oda. The image of sprightly gymnasts tumbling across a balance beam has always drawn American viewers during the Olympics, just like pictures of bikini-clad beach volleyball players going for gold.In some sports, women trump the men when it comes to prestige -- and success.Might as well add cycling to the list.As the U.S. team heads for the Rio Olympics, the women wearing the stars and stripes are among the heavy favorites in several disciplines. Megan Guarnier and her teammates are perhaps the strongest team on the road, Kristin Armstrong is the two-time and defending time trial gold medalist, and the womens pursuit squad recently smashed the world record on the track.The mens squad would be happy to get a medal of any color. In any discipline.On the womens side were doing incredibly well and we have a lot to be proud of, USA Cycling chief executive Derek Bouchard-Hall said, and thats a product of two things: Americas acceptance of womens sport and Title IX, which has really helped with that. Were one of the top three countries in the world. Some of our programs are superb.Indeed, Guarnier is the worlds top-ranked rider and recently won the Giro Rosa, arguably the biggest stage race for women. In the same race, Olympic teammate Evelyn Stevens won a pair of stages and another teammate, Mara Abbott, won a stage and briefly held the leaders pink jersey.Three of the four riders on the Olympic team dominated the race. The fourth member? Armstrong.She won gold in the race against the clock at the Beijing Games and defended it four years ago in London. She has been working back from a second brief retirement for a shot at a three-peat.The womens road squad is so strong that two other riders, Carmen Small and Amber Neben, sought arbitration to determine whether they deserved a spot. And while both would have been a shoo-in on just about any other team, neither of them won their case for Team USA.Theres a lot of pressure, Guarnier said, but I dont think we can let that pressure factor into our performance. There is a certain point where the pressure is good and where it turns bad. The pressure to medal is good.Stevens will join Armstrong in contesting the time trial, and both are capable of medals. Stevens is a former world silver and bronze medalist in the discipline.This is really exciting, Stevens said. Megan is No. 1 in the world, Mara is one of the best climbers in the world, so yeah, I think we have a really great road team.ddddddddddddOn the BMX course, Alise Post recently stood on the podium at the world championships and is the worlds third-ranked rider. Her teammate, Brooke Crain, is ranked sixth.Over on the track, the pursuit squad of Sarah Hammer, Chloe Dygert, Kelly Catlin, Jennifer Valente and Ruth Winder are heavy favorites after their ride at worlds in March. They were more than 4 seconds better than the field in a race that took them just 4 minutes, 16.180 seconds.The world record (for men) is 3:51, so that just shows how strong and fast we are, said Hammer, who will also try to better the silver she won at the London Games in the omnium. One of the coolest things is looking back, and we chuckle about it, the last team (the U.S.) fielded at the world championships for men, I think was in 2006. And we beat their time.The men wont have a pursuit team in Rio. Their only riders on the track are omnium rider Bobby Lea and keirin rider Matt Baranoski, and both are considered longshots to medal.The road squad consists of just Taylor Phinney and Brent Bookwalter after a disastrous qualifying period left the Americans with fewer riders on the start line than Morocco and Iran. Both will contest the time trial, too, where Phinney is an outside medal contender.The best chance for an American medal from a mens rider is in BMX, where Nic Long is ranked No. 2 in the world and Connor Fields has a legitimate chance to land on the Rio podium.Still, they have their work cut out for them if they want to match their female counterparts.The mens side is a different challenge and thats where were struggling, Bouchard-Hall said, and theres two reasons. One is our peers are operating at an exceptionally high level. Its a big sport in Europe and they get some of their best athletes in the talent pool. For us, we compete with a lot of other sports and its harder to find those real genetic outliers.The other is investment -- we dont have near as much money to invest. We simply dont have the money to run those track programs, Bouchard-Hall said. Were disappointed where we are on the mens side but its a difficult challenge to overcome. ' ' '