St. Louis Cardinals vs Kansas City Royals Prediction & Betting Tips 7/9/2024

St. Louis Cardinals vs Kansas City Royals Preview

There does appear to be a chance of rain in St. Louis on Tuesday, where the forecasted temperature is 67 degrees. The Royals and Cardinals will be facing off at Busch Stadium, with the first pitch being set for 7:45 PM ET.

Michael Wacha is starting for the Royals, and they are slight money line underdogs (+103). The Cardinals are starting Andre Pallante, and they are currently on a two-game winning streak. The over/under line is currently at 8 runs, and BSMW will be televising this interleague matchup.

Check out BetCoco for St. Louis Cardinals – Kansas City Royals odds

St. Louis Cardinals Trends and Key Stats

• 1-4 is the record of Royals in their last five road games. They have also gone 1-4 vs. the runline.
• In the Cardinals’ five most recent home games, their record stands at 4-1 (SU) with 2-3 against the spread.
• The Cardinals have a straight-up record of 7-3 in their last ten games as the favorite, and a 4-6 record vs. the runline.
• Looking back at their last ten games as the underdog, the Royals have a 4-6 straight-up record and a 4-6 record vs. the runline.

St. Louis Cardinals vs Kansas City Royals Prediction

The Royals’s offense was hot right out of the gates in their most recent game vs. the Rockies, closing out their series with a 10-1 win. After allowing one run to the Rockies in the bottom of the first, the Royals responded with four runs of their own. Kansas City went on to add another four runs in the 2nd inning.

Starting for the Royals was Brady Singer, who picked up the win while tossing seven innings of one-run ball. He also finished with seven K’s and issued just two walks. Bobby Witt Jr. went 3/5 with a homer and three RBIs.

Kansas City is 49-43 overall and 3rd in the AL Central, 8.5 games behind the Guardians for the division lead. The Royals trail the Twins by 3.5 games for the 2nd spot in the division and are 16-10 against other teams in the AL Central. They are just above .500 on the road at 18-25 compared to going 31-18 at home.

So far, the Royals have been good as the favorite, going 25-15, and they are 24-28 as the underdog. As for their overall series record, the Royals are 13-15-1 and have dropped two straight series.

When the Royals win, they tend to do so by a comfortable margin, averaging a run differential of +3.8 runs per game. When they lose, they lose by an average of three runs per game. Their run line record is 51-41, and they have been a better bet as the underdog, going 31-21 against the run line in those games.

Today’s over/under line of 8 runs for the Kansas City Royals’ road game against the St. Louis Cardinals is right in line with their season average of 8 runs per game. The Royals have played 89 games this season, and 51 of them have had over/under lines set at 8 runs or higher. When the line is set at 8 runs, the over/under record for Kansas City is 9-9-2.

Right-hander Michael Wacha gets the start for the Royals today as he faces the Cardinals on the road. Wacha has made 15 starts this season and has a record of 5-6 with a 3.73 ERA. In his last outing, he picked up the win, going six innings and giving up just one earned run. Looking back over his last three outings, Wacha has given up just one earned run in each of those starts. So far, he has allowed a total of eight home runs. Wacha’s ERA on the road is 3.94, and his record away from home is 2-5.

So far this season, the Royals are averaging 4.5 runs per game, which is 13th in the league. At home, they have been even better, putting up 5.2 runs per contest. As a team, they are batting .246, which is 10th in the league, and have the 3rd fewest strikeouts in the league. The Royals have been a patient team at the plate, but their collective on-base percentage of .306 is just 13th in the league.

Salvador Perez and Bobby Witt Jr. have been two of the Royals’ top power threats this season, with Witt Jr. leading the team with 15 homers and Perez right behind him with 14. Witt Jr. is also batting .324 for the season and has been even better of late, going 15/28 in his last seven games with three homers. Perez is also on a three-game hitting streak.

The Cardinals’s offense was hot right out of the gates in their most recent game vs. the Nationals, closing out their series with a 6-0 win. After going on to score two more runs in the 2nd inning, the Cardinals were the +100 underdog on the money line. St. Louis really broke things open with a 2-run 8th inning. Going into the game, the Nationals were the slight favorite at -105.

Miles Mikolas put together a good start for the Cardinals, going 6 1/3 innings, and didn’t give up a run. He also issued just three walks and struck out three Nationals batters. Alec Burleson was hot at the plate, going 2/5 with a homer and three RBIs.

St. Louis is 48-42 overall and 4.5 games behind the Brewers for the NL Central lead. The Cardinals are 2nd in the NL Central and have gone 13-12 in divisional games this year. They will host the Royals today with a two-game winning streak, and they are 7-3 across their last 10 games.

At home, the Cardinals are 24-18 this year and have gone 24-24 on the road. As the favorite, St. Louis is 25-19 and 23-23 as the underdog. So far, they have an 8-5 record as the home underdog. The Cardinals’ overall series record is 16-11-2, and they have won two straight series, and these have both come on the road.

When betting the run line, the Cardinals have been a better play on the road than at home, with a 22-26 record away from Busch Stadium. They have been a better bet as the underdog, going 29-17 against the run line in those games. St. Louis has an average run margin of -0.4 runs per game this season.

The St. Louis Cardinals have played to an over/under record of 41-46 this season, and their games have averaged 8.6 runs per game. When the over/under line has been set at 8 runs, they have gone 7-9-1 in those contests. Overall, 54.4% of their games have had over/under lines set at more than 8 runs, with the average line for their games being set at 8 runs.

Right-hander Andre Pallante gets the start for the Cardinals today as he faces the Royals at home. Pallante has made seven starts and 16 appearances this season, finishing with a record of 4-3 and an ERA of 4.00. Opponents are batting .249 off Pallante this season, and he has a WHIP of 1.44. Pallante’s last outing came on July 4th, where he finished with a no-decision, going seven innings and giving up one earned run on four hits. Before that, he had won two straight starts.

St. Louis has been a below-average offensive team this season, averaging 4.1 runs per game, which is 21st in the league. They have been just as bad in terms of home runs, and their team slugging percentage of .381 is also 17th in the MLB. However, they do come into the game with a collective batting average of .244, which is 12th in the league.

Over the team’s last six games, Willson Contreras has gone 7/24 with three homers and eight RBIs. Nolan Gorman and Alec Burleson are the team’s top home run hitters this season, with 17 and 14 homers, respectively. Gorman is batting just .210 for the season, but Burleson comes in with a batting average of .283.

With the Cardinals at -121 to pick up a win at home, we see this as a great opportunity to take them on the money line. At home, we have the Cardinals winning this one 6-5, which would give you a good payout at -121.

Looking at some potential player props, we have Andre Pallante finishing with just four strikeouts, which is the second-lowest among all starters today. As for Michael Wacha, he is projected to finish with five strikeouts, which is the eighth lowest.

St. Louis Cardinals vs Kansas City Royals Betting Tips

• Take the Cardinals on the moneyline
• The Cardinals should also cover at +1.5
• Projecting a combined 11 runs, we like the over

St. Louis Cardinals Injury Report

Kansas City Royals Injury Report