Kansas City Royals vs St. Louis Cardinals Preview
The forecast for Friday’s Cardinals vs. Royals interleague matchup calls for cloudy skies and temperatures in the mid-70s. First pitch from Kauffman Stadium is set for 8:10 PM ET. BSKC is carrying this game on TV.
St. Louis is the slight money line favorite (-101), while the odds have the Royals at -117. The over/under line is currently at 9 runs, and the Cardinals will be looking to pick up a win with Miles Mikolas on the mound. The Royals are starting Michael Lorenzen and are 3rd in the AL Central, while the Cardinals are 2nd in the NL Central.
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Kansas City Royals vs. St. Louis Cardinals Trends and Key Stats
- The Cardinals are 1-4 in their five most recent road games, including a 0-5 runline record.
- Conversely, the Royals have achieved a 4-1 (SU) record and 3-2 record in their last five home games.
- In their previous ten games, Cardinals have won 4-6 as favorites and 5-5 as underdogs.
- The Royals hold a 7-3 record as the favorite and a 5-5 record as the underdog.
Kansas City Royals vs St. Louis Cardinals Prediction
The Cardinals will be looking to get back on track after closing out their series vs. the Rays with a 6-4 loss. This was especially tough, as they held a lead going into the 7th inning before the Rays scored three runs in the top of the 7th. St. Louis was the -124 favorite at home going into the game.
Kyle Gibson put together a good start for the Cardinals, going six innings and giving up just two earned runs, and striking out six. However, the Cardinals couldnjson’t close things out, and JoJo Romero took the loss out of the bullpen. The Cardinals also wasted a big game from Nolan Arenado, who went 3/3 with a run scored and a RBI.
St. Louis will be on the road for today’s game vs. the Royals, and they are seven games behind the Brewers in the NL Central. The Cardinals are 59-57 overall and have gone 17-19 against other teams in the NL Central. St. Louis’ overall series record is 19-16-3 this year.
At home, the Cardinals have gone 31-27 this year, and they are just under .500 at 28-30 on the road. So far, they have been the favorite in 60 games, going 31-29 in those matchups. As the road favorite, the Cardinals are 10-8 this year.
St. Louis has been a tough team to bet on this season, as they have a run line record of 57-59. They are 28-30 at home and 29-29 on the road. They have been a better bet as the underdog, going 37-19 against the run line, compared to 20-40 as the favorite. Their average run differential is -0.4 runs per game, and they have been outscored by 0.5 runs per game on the road.
Today’s over/under line of 9 runs is slightly higher than the St. Louis Cardinals’ average combined run average of 8.7 runs per game this season. The Cardinals have played in 113 games this season, with 90 of them having over/under lines set lower than 9 runs. Their over/under record for the season is 56-57, and when the line is set at 9 runs, they have gone 8-9-1.
Miles Mikolas is looking to bounce back from a rough outing vs. the Cubs, where he took the loss and gave up four earned runs in four innings of work. In that outing, he gave up two homers. Looking back over his last three outings, Mikolas has allowed a homer in each of them. His ERA for the season is 5.12, along with a record of 8-9. Out of his 23 starts, Mikolas has turned in 13 quality starts and is averaging just 1.54 walks per nine innings. At home, his ERA is 7.15 compared to 4.55 on the road.
St. Louis comes into today’s game with the 24th ranked scoring offense in the league, averaging just 4.1 runs per game. They haven’t been much better on the road, averaging 4.0 runs per contest. As a team, they are batting .246, which is 10th in the league, and are also near the middle of the pack in terms of home runs and slugging percentage.
Alec Burleson has been the team’s top run producer this season, as his 66 RBIs are the best mark on the team. He is also 1st on the team with 19 homers and is batting .274. Paul Goldschmidt and Nolan Gorman are also near the top of the team’s home run leaderboard, but both are batting below .230 for the season. Masyn Winn has been a bright spot for the team’s offense, as he is batting .281 and has gone 6/23 in his last six games.
Bobby Witt Jr. was hot at the plate in the Royals’ most recent game vs. the Red Sox, going 3/4 with two homers and four RBIs. The Royals really broke things open with a five-run 4th inning. Looking at the betting lines going into the game, the Royals were the slight favorite at -141 at home.
Cole Ragans got the start for the Athletics, going 6 1/3 innings, and giving up just one run on six hits. He only had two strikeouts in the outing and got the win.
Kansas City is 64-52 overall and is 4th in the AL Central, four games behind the Guardians for the division lead. They trail the Twins by a half-game for 2nd place in the division. The Royals head into today’s game vs. the Cardinals with an overall record of 25-11 against other AL Central teams.
At home, the Royals are 37-24 this season and have gone 27-28 on the road. As the favorite, Kansas City is 37-22 this year and 27-30 as the underdog. Their overall series record is 17-19-1, and they have won two straight series on the road and have dropped three straight series at home.
The Royals have been a solid bet on the run line this season, going 65-51. They have been particularly good at home, where they are 35-26 against the run line. Their average run margin for the season is +0.8, and they have been even better at home, outscoring opponents by an average of 1.0 runs per game. They have been profitable as both favorites (30-29) and underdogs (35-22) against the run line this season.
The Kansas City Royals are playing host to the St. Louis Cardinals today, and oddsmakers have set the over/under line at 9 runs. The combined run average for Royals games this season is 8.7 runs, and their over/under record is 51-62. When the over/under line is set at 9 runs, their record is 11-11. So far this season, 67.2% of their games have had lower over/under lines than today’s line of 9 runs. The over has hit in each of their last three games.
Michael Lorenzen gets the start for the Royals today and will be looking to build off his last outing, where he gave up just one earned run in 5 2/3 innings of work. In that outing vs. the Tigers, he gave up five hits, two walks, and didn’t allow a homer. Lorenzen finished with a no-decision in that outing. Looking back further, he has made 19 starts and eight of them have been quality starts. Lorenzen’s ERA for the season is 3.69, along with a record of 5-6. For the year, he has allowed 15 homers and is averaging 6.71 strikeouts per nine innings.
The Royals come into the game as one of the league’s top-scoring offenses, averaging 4.8 runs per game. They have been even better at home, putting up 5.2 runs per contest. As a team, they are batting .253, which is 7th in the league, and are one of the toughest teams to strike out in the league. Kansas City has been very good in terms of slugging percentage and are near the top of the league in isolated power.
Over his last nine games, Vinnie Pasquantino has been on fire for the Royals, going 14/39 with six homers and 17 RBIs. This has helped him move into a tie with Bobby Witt Jr. for the team lead in RBIs, as both have 84 for the season. Witt Jr. has also been great at the plate this season, hitting .349, and is currently on a four-game hitting streak.
Our pick for this Cardinals vs. Royals matchup is to take the Royals on the money line at -117. We have the Royals winning this one by a score of 6-5. However, with the over/under line sitting at 9 runs, we see there being some good value in taking the Royals to pick up the win.
Looking at the starting pitchers, our projections have Miles Mikolas going just two innings and finishing with four strikeouts. As for Michael Lorenzen, we have him going five innings and also finishing with four strikeouts.
Kansas City Royals vs St. Louis Cardinals Betting Tips
- Take the Royals on the moneyline
- The Royals are also our pick on the run line at +1.5
- Projecting a combined 11 runs, we like the over
Kansas City Royals Injury Report
| Player | Status | Injury |
|---|---|---|
| Dan Altavilla | Out | Oblique |
| Josh Taylor | Out | Biceps |
| Kyle Wright | Out | Shoulder |
| John Schreiber | Out | Knee |
St. Louis Cardinals Injury Report
| Player | Status | Injury |
|---|---|---|
| Lance Lynn | Out | Knee |
| Steven Matz | Out | Back |
| Keynan Middleton | Out | Forearm |
| Drew Rom | Out | Biceps |
| Michael Siani | Out | Oblique |
| Riley O’Brien | Out | Forearm |
