Wednesday night in MLB is going to be a wild one with two exciting divisional games guaranteed to fully satisfy your baseball cravings. The owners of the best record in the American League, the Kansas City Royals (63-42), lock horns with the Detroit Tigers (51-55) for Game 2 of their three-game series.
And over in Ohio, the No. 1 team in the majors, the St. Louis Cardinals (67-39), battle the Cincinnati Reds (48-56) in the middle game of their own three-game set. Read on further for a quick preview of these two appetizing matchups. And while you’re at it, click here to see our in-depth breakdown between the Astros and Rangers.
[sc:MLBArticles ]Kansas City Royals vs. Detroit Tigers (7:08 PM ET)
Line: Kansas City Royals vs. Detroit Tigers – view all MLB lines
[sc:MLB240banner ]The Kansas City Royals bounced back from Sunday night’s 5-2 loss to the Blue Jays by winning their series opener with the Detroit Tigers last night, 5-1. They’ll look to make it two-straight wins over their division rivals when they send newly-acquired Johnny Cueto (7-6, 2.70 ERA) to the mound for Game 2 of their three-game set this evening.
During Cueto’s Royals debut on Friday against the Blue Jays, the former Reds ace was a bit shaky, allowing three earned runs on seven hits in six innings of work to go along with seven strikeouts in a losing effort.
The Tigers, on the other hand, are going to counter with Matt Boyd, who was called up from Triple-A Toledo to start in place of Buck Farmer. The 24-year-old was acquired from the Blue Jays last week and tonight marks his first start with Detroit. However, Boyd has struggled in his two starts this year, holding a 0-2 record and a very high 14.85 ERA.
The Royals have lost four of their last five, while the Tigers are 2-5 in their last seven at home.
Writer’s Prediction
Kansas City (-110) wins, 6-3.
St. Louis Cardinals vs. Cincinnati Reds (7:10 PM ET)
Line: St. Louis Cardinals (-150) vs Cincinnati Reds (+135); total: 7.5– view all MLB lines
The Cardinals seem to have a hard time beating the Reds. The Cards have now lost three straight times to Cincy after last night’s 3-2 loss. They’ll have another chance to put an end to this struggle in the middle game of their three-game set this evening.
Pitching for St. Louis is Carlos Martinez (11-4, 2.61 ERA), who’s coming off a horrible performance in a 9-8 loss to the Rockies last Thursday. The right-hander yielded five earned runs on 10 hits in over five frames. But this was probably just a minor blip, as Martinez was superb in the entire month of July, owning a 2-1 record and an impressive 2.03 ERA.
The Reds, meanwhile, will be starting David Holmberg (1-0, 3.00 ERA) later tonight. Holmberg is coming off a quality performance in his season debut, giving his team six innings of two-run ball to beat the Pirates, 15-3, on Saturday. He is 0-1 with a 1.54 ERA and 1.20 WHIP against St. Louis in his career.
The Cards are 5-1 in Martinez’s last 6 road starts. The Reds, on the other hand, are 4-1 in Holmberg’s last 5 starts versus NL Central teams.
Writer’s Prediction
St. Louis (-150) wins, 4-0.
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