The St. Louis Cardinals are set to host their cross-state rival Kansas City Royals at Busch Stadium. This interleague showdown will get underway at 1:15 p.m. ET and Fox Sports Kansas City will broadcast the game.
Kansas City Royals vs. St. Louis Cardinals Odds
Kansas City (+175) is entering this one as the underdog to St. Louis (-185) and Vegas has the Over/Under for this one at 8.5 runs (+100 for the over and -120 for the under). You can also bet on the games spread with the most recent runline odds standing at -125 for the Royals +1.5 runs and +105 for the Cardinals -1.5 runs.
The Royals are 15-33 SU and are 20-27 against the spread (ATS). They’ve lost 15.3 units for gamblers taking the moneyline over the early part of the year and 11.2 units ATS. The Cardinals, on the other hand, are 26-20 SU and 22-23 ATS. They’ve gained 2.4 units for moneyline bettors while gaining 1.8 units ATS.
St. Louis games have an 18-24-3 over/under record so far in 2018. The Royals have also been a decent under bet with a total record of 19-26-2.
Jakob Junis will get the start for the visiting Royals. The right-handed Junis is 5-3 with a 3.51 ERA and 48 strikeouts. He has yet to face the Cardinals this year and did not record a start against them in 2017, either.
The Cardinals are turning to righty Michael Wacha (5-1, 3.08 ERA), who has 44 punchouts and 21 walks as well as a 1.31 WHIP. Wacha only made one start against the Royals in 2017 (1-0, 4.50 ERA and five strikeouts across six innings).
St. Louis pitching staff has allowed 3.8 runs per game overall in 2018 as a unit. Its starting pitching staff has a 2.98 ERA, 1.19 WHIP and 8.2 strikeouts per nine innings. The bullpen has a 4.16 ERA, 1.40 WHIP and 8.3 K/9.
The St. Louis hitters have put up 4.4 runs per contest, including 4.4 per game over its last 10 games and 6.0 per game over their last five. The team has hit .314/.356/.491 over its last five matchups and is 3-2 SU during that stretch.
The Cardinals hitters have been led by Jose Martinez, who is slashing .311/.382/.473 with five home runs, 30 RBIs and 19 runs scored. Martinez had a slight decline in production against righty pitching last year, slashing .282/.346/.427 over 237 plate appearances (his total season line was .309/.379/.518).
For the visitors, Kansas City’s pitchers have allowed 5.7 runs per game and its starting pitchers own a 5.53 ERA, 1.44 WHIP and 7.16 K/9. The bullpen has an ERA of 5.38, along with a K-per-9 of 6.76.
The Royals offense has slashed .255/.322/.385 on its way to 3.9 runs scored per game in 2018, including 2.7 runs per game over the teams last 10 games and 2.8 per game over the teams last five contests (2-3 SU).
Kansas City’s offense has been led by Mike Moustakas. Moustakas is slashing .289/.333/.513 with 10 home runs, 31 RBIs and 27 runs scored.
The Royals just took the previous game in this series by a score of five runs to one.
Kansas City Royals at St. Louis Cardinals Pick
Predictions: SU Winner – Cardinals, ATS Winner – Royals, O/U – OVER
Betting Notes
- The under has hit in four of Kansas City’s last seven games.
- The Royals have hit four home runs in their last 10 games, including three over their last five.
- St. Louis has posted 23.0 Runs + Hits + Errors per game over its last 10 contests and 27.2 over its last five.
