St. Louis Cardinals vs Kansas City Royals Preview
At 1:45 PM ET, the Royals and Cardinals square off in an interleague matchup. This one is being played at Busch Stadium in St. Louis, and the Cardinals are the slight favorite on the money line (-132). The Royals have a record of 49-43, while the Cardinals are 48-42. Alec Marsh will start for the Royals, and he is facing off against Andre Pallante.
The over/under line is currently at 8.5 runs, and the game will be televised on BSMW. The Cardinals are 2nd in the NL Central, while the Royals are 3rd in the AL Central. Kansas City comes into the game having won two straight, while the Cardinals are on a two-game winning streak.
Check out BetCoco for St. Louis Cardinals – Kansas City Royals odds
St. Louis Cardinals Trends and Key Stats
- Across their last five road games, the Royals are 1-4. This includes going 1-4 vs. the runline.
- On the other side, the Cardinals have gone 4-1 (SU) and 2-3 in their previous five home contests.
- In their last ten games as the favorite, the Cardinals have a record of 7-3 straight-up, and have gone 4-6 against the runline.
- Over their previous ten games as the underdog, the Royals have a straight-up record of 4-6 and a 4-6 record vs. the runline.
St. Louis Cardinals vs Kansas City Royals Prediction
Heading into their last game vs. the Rockies, the Royals closed out the series with a 10-1 win. Leading up to the game, they were the heavy favorite at -172. Offensively, the Royals scored their 10 runs on 12 hits and only hit three home runs.
Brady Singer put together a good start for the Royals, going seven innings and giving up just one earned run, and picking up the win. Kansas City’s offense was carried by Bobby Witt Jr., who went 3/5 with a homer and three RBIs.
Kansas City is 49-43 overall, putting them 3rd in the AL Central, nine games behind the Guardians for the division lead. So far, they have gone 16-10 against other teams in the AL Central. The Royals are just 18-25 on the road this year.
As the road underdog, the Royals are 10-17 this year, and they are 25-15 when favored. Kansas City’s overall series record is 13-15-1, and they have dropped two straight series.
When betting the run line, the Royals have been a solid choice this season, going 51-41 overall. They have been even better at home, going 29-20 on the run line, while on the road, they are 22-21. As the underdog, they have been especially strong, going 31-21 on the run line. Their average run differential this season is +0.6 runs per game.
The Kansas City Royals are on the road today against the St. Louis Cardinals. The over/under line for the game is set at 8.5 runs, which is exactly the combined run average for the Royals this season. Kansas City has played 89 games this season, and 25 of them have had over/under lines set at 8.5 runs. In those games, the over has hit 9 times and the under has hit 17 times.
Kansas City is sending right-hander Alec Marsh to the mound today vs. the Cardinals. He has made 16 starts this year and has a record of 6-6 with a 4.57 ERA. Marsh’s WHIP for the season is currently 1.26. In his 16 appearances, he has turned in four quality starts and is averaging 7.97 strikeouts per nine innings. Looking back at his last outing, Marsh took the loss, giving up five earned runs in three innings of work. Before that, he had won two straight starts. So far, he has an ERA of 6.31 on the road compared to 4.78 at home.
So far this season, the Royals are averaging 4.5 runs per game, which is 13th in the MLB. At home, they have been even better, averaging 5.2 runs per contest. As a team, they are batting .246, which is 8th in the league, and are also one of the best teams in the league at avoiding strikeouts. Kansas City’s team on-base percentage and slugging percentage are both right around the league average.
Salvador Perez and Bobby Witt Jr. have been the Royals’ top power threats this season, with Perez hitting 14 homers and Witt Jr. at 15. Witt Jr. is also batting .324 for the season and has been even better of late, going 12/24 in his last six games, including three homers. Witt Jr. is also on a seven-game hitting streak.
Heading into their last game vs. the Nationals, the Cardinals closed out the series with a 6-0 win. Leading up to thethe game, they were the slight favorite at +100 on the money line. It was a big 3rd inning that really turned things in their favor, and the Nationals could only score six runs. Alec Burleson went 2/5 with a homer and three RBIs.
Miles Mikolas got the start for the Cardinals, going 6 1/3 innings, and didn’t give up a run. He also issued just three hits and struck out three. The Cardinals’ offense scored their other three runs in the 8th to put things out of reach. Paul Goldschmidt and Brendan Donovan each had two hits and scored one run apiece.
St. Louis will host the Royals with an overall record of 48-42, which has them 2nd in the NL Central, four games behind the Brewers for the division lead. The Cardinals head into today’s game having won two straight games, and they closed out their series vs. the Nationals with three straight wins.
So far, the Cardinals have gone 13-12 in divisional games. At home, they are 24-18 this year compared to a 24-24 mark on the road. As the favorite, the Cardinals are 25-19 this year and 23-23 when they are the underdog. St. Louis has an overall series record of 16-11-2 and have won two straight series.
As a run line bettor, the St. Louis Cardinals have been a good team to back when they are the underdog, going 29-17 on the run line in those games. Their average run differential in those games is -0.4 runs per game, which is better than their overall run differential of -0.5 runs per game. They have been a poor team to back when they are the favorite, going just 17-27 on the run line in those games.
Today’s game between the St. Louis Cardinals and Kansas City Royals has an over/under line of 8.5 runs. The Cardinals have played 87 games this season, and 21 of them have had over/under lines set at 8.5 runs. In those games, the over has hit 17 times, giving them a 17-11 record in games with an over/under line of 8.5 runs. Overall, the Cardinals have a 41-46 over/under record this season, and their games have averaged 8.6 runs per game.
Right-hander Andre Pallante gets the start for the Cardinals today as he faces the Royals at home. Pallante has made seven starts this year and has a record of 4-3 with an ERA of 4.00. So far, he has turned in two quality starts and is averaging 7.2 strikeouts per nine innings. In his last outing, Pallante went seven innings, giving up one earned run, and finished with a no-decision. Before that, he had won two straight starts. The right-hander has done much better at home, coming in with an ERA of 2.06 compared to 4.54 on the road.
St. Louis comes into the game with the league’s 17th ranked home run total, and they are also batting a collective .244, which is 9th in the MLB. However, their team isolated power (ISO) of .137 is only 22nd in the league. So far, they are averaging 4.1 runs per game, which is 23rd in the league. The Cardinals have been about the same in terms of scoring runs at home and on the road.
Nolan Gorman comes into the game with a four-game hitting streak and has been on fire at the plate of late, going 11/23 in his last seven games with one home run and eight RBIs. For the season, he is batting just .210, but his 17 home runs are the best mark on the team. Alec Burleson and Nolan Gorman are the team’s top two run producers, with 45 RBIs apiece.
Our predicted final score for this one is 5-4 in favor of the Cardinals, and with their money line sitting at -132, that is the way we recommend playing this one. Offensively, we have the Cardinals finishing with 8 hits compared to the Royals with 8th in the league today.
Looking at the starting pitchers, we have Alec Marsh finishing with seven strikeouts compared to Andre Pallante with five. However, we have Pallante going deeper into the game, and in terms of hits allowed, we have Marsh giving up seven compared to Pallante with 10.
Another way you could look to play this one is by taking the under, as the line is currently sitting at 8.5 runs, and we have this one finishing with a combined nine runs.
St. Louis Cardinals vs Kansas City Royals Betting Tips
- Take the Cardinals on the moneyline
- On the run line we like the Royals (+1.5)
- Projecting a combined 9 runs, we like the over
St. Louis Cardinals Injury Report
| Player | Status | Injury |
|---|---|---|
| Steven Matz | Out | Back |
| Keynan Middleton | Out | Forearm |
| Tommy Edman | Out | Wrist |
| Drew Rom | Out | Biceps |
| Iván Herrera | Out | Back |
| Riley O’Brien | Out | Forearm |
Kansas City Royals Injury Report
| Player | Status | Injury |
|---|---|---|
| Jordan Lyles | Out | Personal |
| Dan Altavilla | Out | Oblique |
| Josh Taylor | Out | Biceps |
| Kyle Wright | Out | Shoulder |
