KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Yordano Ventura threw six innings in his return from a sore elbow, and the Kansas City Royals rallied to beat the St. Louis Cardinals 3-2 Thursday night and end a string of eight straight home losses to their in-state rivals.

Ventura (3-5) was skipped his previous time through the rotation because of minor elbow pain, but he looked sharp in his return.

He pitched to contact and took advantage of some sharp defense, which helped him to limit the damage whenever he ran into trouble.

The Royals rallied for three runs off Michael Wacha (4-4) to take the lead in the sixth inning, and Francisley Bueno and Wade Davis each pitched a perfect inning in relief of Ventura.