ST. LOUIS (AP) -- Right now, hitters are overmatched against Darryl Kile.

Kile scattered seven hits and struck out 10 in his second straight dominant performance as the St. Louis Cardinals beat the Kansas City Royals 4-2 Wednesday night.

	Kile

It was Kile's 22nd career complete game and first since April 29, 1999, against St. Louis when he was pitching for Colorado.

Kile (9-3) joined Randy Johnson of Arizona as the only nine-game winners in the NL. He topped his victory total from last season, an 8-13 disaster in Colorado, in only his 13th start.

Seven Royals batters took called third strikes, and Kile struck out four in a row in one stretch. In his last start Friday, Kile ended a string of forgettable interleague outings when he allowed three hits and a run in eight innings in a victory over the Indians.

He's now 2-6 with a 4.96 ERA in 11 interleague starts.

"That's just luck," he said. "It's a pretty good team over there and they're playing real well. For us to take two of three is a big lift for us."

The Cardinals got a pair of RBI hits from Edgar Renteria and took two of three from the Royals without three regulars, including Mark McGwire. McGwire, who has 21 home runs, sat for the second straight game with a hamstring injury and has missed 13 games due to injury this season.

Fernando Vina and Ray Lankford also were sidelined with hamstring injuries.

"If you look at this club, one of the big things we had going for us coming out of spring training was the depth we had," said Eric Davis, McGwire's replacement in the cleanup slot the last two games. "We have capable guys, guys who could be playing every day on other teams."

Kile also got his second hit in 29 at-bats when he singled with two outs and scored on Renteria's two-out hit in a two-run second. He shattered his bat on the hit.

"It broke about everything in my body," Kile said. "That's just luck."

Renteria had an RBI double and Davis had a run-scoring single off Miguel Batista (2-5) in the first. Royals right fielder Jermaine Dye missed Placido Polanco's knee-high fly ball, allowing the ball to roll to the warning track, for a three-base error in the second.

"I know he ran into a bright spot where the sun can get through the stadium," manager Tony Muser said. "The ball was sinking pretty good. He may have lost it."

The Royals scored in the sixth when pinch hitter Scott Pose drew a leadoff walk, Johnny Damon singled and Mike Sweeney hit a sacrifice fly. Joe Randa added an RBI single in the ninth.

Batista allowed four runs, two earned, in five innings. He's lost his last four starts, giving up 15 earned runs in 23 1/3 innings.

"He kept us in the ballgame," Muser said. "The bullpen did a good job and Batista didn't get blown out."

Game notes
Injured Cardinals third baseman Fernando Tatis, out since April 29 with a torn groin, hit an upper-deck home run in batting practice. He's not expected to return until after the All-Star break. ... The Royals fell to 13-21 on the road, but are 17-7 at home. ... Dye and Damon, the left fielder, made catches at the wall in the second. Dye leaped to rob Craig Paquette of extra bases and Damon's was more spectacular since he bobbled the ball when he slammed into the wall. ... Despite losing the last two, the Royals had their first winning trip of the season at 5-4. ... The cross-state rivals have each won six games in the series. ... Batista is 0-3 for his career against the Cardinals, allowing 25 earned runs and 41 hits in 29 innings.