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ST. LOUIS -- The Kansas City Royals waited a long time between wins. They had no problem waiting to put this one in the books. Jeff Francoeur and Eric Hosmer combined for three RBIs in the ninth inning against the St. Louis Cardinals bullpen and the Royals spoiled Michael Wachas almost spotless debut, snapping an eight-game losing streak with a rain-delayed 4-2 victory on Thursday night. "We talk about this streak, weve been in every game, weve been one hit away, and tonight we got the hit," Royals manager Ned Yost said. "Those are games that can get you turned around. Hopefully, that will be the case." Hall of Famer George Bretts debut as interim batting coach was a success and the Royals avoided a four-game sweep despite totalling only four hits in a marathon delayed an hour before the first pitch and another 4 hours, 32 minutes not long after the Royals took the lead with the bases loaded and none out in the top of the ninth. It took 12 minutes to get the last six outs of a game that would have been a snappy 2 hours, 27 minutes without the rain. "To get a win and break the streak, hopefully well carry some momentum tomorrow night," Francoeur said. From a near capacity crowd of 43,916, a couple hundred fans at most were around when the game scheduled to start at 7:15 p.m. CDT ended at 3:14 a.m. Umpire crew chief Joe West opted for patience and declined to invoke a rule clause in the final season meeting between teams that would have wiped out the top of the ninth and declared the Cardinals 2-1 winners. "I wasnt sure we were going to get that game in, and to lose in that fashion after coming back in the ninth inning wouldnt have been right," Yost said. "I credit Joe West for hanging in there. I credit their grounds crew for getting the field playable." Cardinals manager Mike Matheny and general manager John Mozeliak lobbied during the delay for an eight-inning St. Louis win. Matheny said the field was "bad." "And I thought our grounds crew did a tremendous job," Matheny added. "This comes down to one of my guys getting hurt, its a big deal. "Fortunately they got it to where we could play." West told pool reporter Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch that the Cardinals did not express their frustration to him directly, made no statement and did not lodge a protest. The length of game created a bit of a hardship for that crew, set to work a Cubs day game on Friday. "We worry about that game when we get to that one," West said. "We had to worry about this game tonight." The Royals headed for a weekend series in Texas while the Cardinals are at home Friday night against the Giants. Matheny paid a hefty price for giving closer Edward Mujica a day off after earning four saves in four days. Francoeur homered on the second pitch from Mitchell Boggs, a curious choice to get the ball in the ninth given season-long woes that left him with a double-digit ERA and included a stint in the minors. Boggs (0-3) faced two batters, retired neither and was loudly booed by a near-sellout crowd forced into a second rain delay. He was demoted May 3 after a 12.66 ERA and 12 walks in 10 2-3 innings. He has allowed a run in three of four appearances since returning on May 19, and none of the first three outings came with the game on the line. Matheny said after the game that rookie set-up man Trevor Rosenthal also had been unavailable. Hosmer, who had one RBI the previous 10 games, bounced a bases-loaded double over a drawn-in infield off Victor Marte. The 21-year-old Wacha, who allowed a run on two hits in seven innings, was the third rookie to debut as a starter for the Cardinals and came close to matching John Gast and Tyler Lyons as first-game winners. Wacha retired the first 13 batters and set down the side in order every inning except the fifth, when Lorenzo Cain doubled with one out and scored on Elliott Johnsons single. Wacha made the Cardinals fastest jump from draft day to the majors in 25 years after getting picked in the first round last June. Louis Coleman (1-0) allowed a walk in 1 1-3 innings and Greg Holland finished for his eighth save in 10 chances and first since May 1. Hollands blown save on May 6 against the White Sox was his only other chance this month. Francoeur had been batting .156 in May and didnt start for the second straight game, entering in a double switch in the seventh. He ended the Royals 59-inning slump without a homer with his second of the season and first since April 10. Allen Craig and David Freese had two-out RBI singles in the first off Jeremy Guthrie to give the Cardinals the lead. They left the bases loaded in the second, wasting a single by Wacha in his first career at-bat, and stranded two in the fourth. Wacha had a chance to score from second on Carlos Beltrans hit, but the Cardinals didnt risk a play at the plate with the bases loaded, one out and the heart of the order coming up. Matt Holliday grounded into a force play at the plate and Craig grounded out to end the inning. NOTES: Wacha is the eighth rookie pitcher to suit up for St. Louis this year and seventh to play. Reliever Michael Blazek was optioned to the minors earlier in the day without appearing in a game. ... Shelby Miller (5-3, 2.02) opposes the Giants Matt Cain (4-2, 5.00) in the opener of a three-game series Friday. The Royals begin a three-game set at Texas with Wade Davis (3-4, 5.71) opposing Derek Holland (4-2, 2.97). ... Cardinals reliever Randy Choate was the winner Wednesday for his first decision since July 24, 2011, a span of 103 appearances. 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In tossing a two-hit shutout, Buehrle led the way as Toronto ended its seven-game losing streak with a much-needed 4-0 victory at Rogers Centre over the team with the worst record in baseball. Buehrle insisted his postgame plans werent on his mind as he mowed down the Astros with remarkable efficiency. The lefty threw 108 pitches over nine innings, striking out nine and wrapping things up in a clean 2 hours and 18 minutes. "He was just marvelous," Adam Lind said. "He threw the heck out of that baseball tonight." Buehrles domination couldnt have come at a better time for the struggling Blue Jays, whose bullpen had been taxed during a series against the Los Angeles Dodgers. Mixing his pitches and keeping counts low, the 34-year-old rarely got into trouble and dazzled the Astros. "It was typical Buehrle: When hes on, when hes hitting spots, when hes got that good change-up," manager John Gibbons said. "I thought he did a really good job of hitting some of the right-handers inside tonight to keep them honest. It came along at the time when we definitely needed it because our bullpens kind of tired." The bullpen never stirred because Buehrle (6-7) was always in control. He didnt allow a hit until Justin Maxwells single with two outs in the fifth, and he didnt flinch after J.D. Martinezs double in the seventh as the Blue Jays clung to a one-run lead. "I had everything working," Buehrle said. "Obviously velocity wasnt there. I was making pitches when I had to, movement was good and keeping the guys off balance. ... It was just one of those days that I had everything going for me." Perhaps because he didnt overthink the ramifications -- either of the Blue Jays skid or their fatigued relievers, who combined to throw 13 1/3 innings in the previous three games. Gibbons made it clear his team needed a strong outing from Buehrle, but that didnt cause undue stress. "In your mind you know that the bullpens been worn out and been used a lot," Buehrle said. "But if they have 10 days off, Im going out there trying to go as deep in the game as I can. If the guys say, Hey I need to get an inning today, Im stiill trying to go seven, eight innings every time Im out there.dddddddddddd I dont put any more pressure or look at the situation like that." Pressure could have come from pitching in a tight game, as Houston starter Erik Bedard managed to hold the Blue Jays to just one run on three hits through five innings. Limiting the damage to an RBI double by Edwin Encarnacion, the Navan, Ont., native was forced to exit after 95 pitches, and Toronto took advantage of reliever Lucas Harrell to provide Buehrle some insurance. Jose Bautista, Encarnacion, Lind and Maicer Izturis combined to put three runs on the board in the seventh. Buehrle didnt need the extra run support, but it sure didnt hurt, especially one night after the Blue Jays failed to build on their lead and watched it slip away. "We saw what happened last night when we couldnt score an additional insurance run, but thats baseball," said Lind, whose opposite-field double drove in Bautista. "It just makes things a lot easier tonight for our starting pitcher or your bullpen when you can add one or two extra runs." Izturis two-run double made it 4-0, more than enough of a cushion for Buehrle, who rarely even got to a full count against an Astros lineup that features left fielder Chris Carter as its only real power threat and shortstop Jonathan Villar as its only hitter above .300. But he didnt want this victory to be discounted because of the opponent. "Im sure theres going to be a lot of people saying that obviously this is the worst team in baseball and record-wise theyre not very good," Buehrle said. "But in my mind theyre still big-league hitters. If you make a mistake, theyre going to make you pay for it. I did make a few mistakes -- I got lucky and got away with them." Nine strikeouts were the most for Buehrle since 12 on April 16, 2005. But he didnt react like picking up Torontos first win since July 13 was anything special. "I think it was just like any other game weve won," Buehrle said. "I dont think its any bigger that weve lost seven in a row and we finally won a game as opposed to winning three or four in a row. Guys were happy, musics playing." Minutes later Buehrle was off to watch McGraw, even though he didnt request that music to play in celebration. "He couldve played whatever he wanted tonight," Lind said. ' ' '