Royals vs. Cardinals Pick
Can the St. Louis Cardinals cap off their series with the Kansas City Royals with another victory when the two close things out at 7:15PM ET tonight?
According to oddsmakers at Bovada.lv, St. Louis is favored at home, as the Cardinals are getting odds of -140 to win. The Royals are listed with odds of +120 to win, while the over/under total has been set at 8.5 runs.
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Tonight’s pitching matchup has Lance Lynn (10-6, 3.12 ERA) on the mound for the Cardinals to face Jason Hammel (5-9, 4.73) of the Royals. Hammel has given up at least three runs in six of his last seven starts for KC. He has 96 strikeouts with 37 walks this season and a 1.38 WHIP. Lynn is on a nice run for the Cardinals, as he has went at least six innings in six straight starts while allowing a total of just five runs in those starts. Lynn has 114 strikeouts on the season with 49 walks and a 1.12 WHIP.
St. Louis hammered Kansas City for two wins in KC by a combined score of 21-6. The Cardinals then picked up an 8-5 win at home on Wednesday night. St. Louis now sits at 58-56 overall and 32-26 at home. Kansas City has fallen to 57-56 overall and 25-29 on the road.
Neither starter did well on Wednesday. Trevor Cahill lasted only 2.1 innings and gave up three runs for KC. Mike Leake lasted five innings and allowed five runs for the Cardinals. The key was the St. Louis bullpen then pitched four scoreless innings, while the Royals allowed four runs in their pen. Yadier Molina had a grand slam to break the game open for St. Louis. Dexter Fowler walked three times and scored two times as well. Kansas City was led by Melky Cabrera, who had two hits and three RBI.
The Cardinals are proving they are still Missouri’s team in this series. They have won at the plate and haven’t needed their starting pitching to do much in this series. That could be the case again today with Hammel on the mound for Kansas City. Even if Hammel is able to have an above-average start, Lynn has been on another level for many weeks. I don’t see him imploding against this weak KC lineup.
MLB DAILY PREDICTION: ST. LOUIS CARDINALS -140