The Kansas City Royals and St. Louis Cardinals close out their series on Thursday at Busch Stadium. First pitch is set for 1:45PM ET. The Royals won Tuesday’s opener 10-7 in a high-scoring battle. St. Louis will look to even the series and protect their strong home record of 19-9.
Kansas City enters this matchup with a 32-29 record and has won four of the last five matchups against the Cardinals dating back to May. St. Louis is 33-27 overall and will start Miles Mikolas, who has had great success against Kansas City in the past. Rookie left-hander Noah Cameron gets the ball for the Royals in his fifth career start.
Royals Preview – Pitching Carrying the Load While Offense Looks to Wake Up
Kansas City has relied on its arms all year. The pitching staff ranks second in MLB with a 3.19 ERA. That includes a bullpen that has a 2.82 ERA across 181.2 innings with a 1.10 WHIP and 153 strikeouts.
Noah Cameron has been elite through four starts, posting a 1.05 ERA while averaging over 6 innings per outing. He shut down the Cardinals last month, allowing just two hits and one run over 6.1 innings. His ability to pitch deep into games has helped preserve the bullpen.
On offense, the Royals average just 3.34 runs per game but exploded for 10 runs on Tuesday. Bobby Witt Jr. leads the offense and had four RBIs in that game. The call-up of Jac Caglianone brings power potential to the lineup, even though he went hitless in his MLB debut.
Cardinals Preview – Home Strength and Bullpen Stability Key
Miles Mikolas is 3-0 with a 1.67 ERA in four career starts vs Kansas City. He shut out the Royals on two hits in six innings on May 17. His 3.90 ERA this year includes a solid May, where he had a 3.08 ERA across five starts.
St. Louis has one of the best home records in baseball and is averaging 4.67 runs per game. They’ve hit the team total over in 19 of their last 28 home games and have scored 5+ runs in five of their last seven at Busch Stadium.
Without Jordan Walker, the lineup is thinner against left-handed pitching. Still, the Cardinals bullpen has done well, allowing just a 2.98 ERA on the season. Relievers like JoJo Romero, Phil Maton, and Ryan Helsley have combined to keep games close late.
Betting Prediction
The total is listed at 7.5, and both starters have a history of success in this matchup. Cameron has allowed one run or fewer in every start, and Mikolas has kept Kansas City in check his entire career. A low-scoring game is likely, with both bullpens also ranking among the best in ERA.
While St. Louis has the home field edge, Kansas City’s pitching gives them a great chance to stay within the number. The Royals are 15-2 against the run line in their last 17 road games and 14-3 on the first five innings run line in that same span. Final score projection: Cardinals 3, Royals 2.
Pick: Royals +1.5
Best of luck and enjoy this game between the two Missouri teams!
