The best of both leagues collide later tonight, as the Kansas City Royals (26-14) open a three-game interleague series at home against the St. Louis Cardinals (27-14). Will the Royals show St. Louis who’s the boss? Or will the Cards take the series opener? You can also click here for Game 4 of the New York Rangers and the Tampa Bay Lightning.
[sc:MLBArticles ]St. Louis Cardinals vs. Kansas City Royals Preview
Where: Kauffman Stadium, Kansas City
When: Friday, May 22, 8:10 PM ET
Line: St. Louis Cardinals (-101) vs. Kansas City Royals (-109); total: 7.5 – view all MLB lines
Betting on the St. Louis Cardinals
It looks like the Cards are not sweating the loss of Adam Wainwright this season. Not with Lance Lynn and the rest of the Cards’ rotation pitching this well. So far this season, St. Louis is top in the majors in ERA (2.73) and eighth in WHIP (1.23).
[sc:MLB240banner ]When Lynn (3-3, 2.96 ERA) steps on the mound against Kansas City tonight, he’ll be pitching on the heels of back-to-back wins in his last two starts. Against Detroit on May 17, Lynn pitched seven plus innings of fantastic baseball, as he allowed just one earned run on six hits and struck out seven in the process. Prior to that start, Lynn notched a win versus Cleveland on May 12, wherein he tossed six shutout innings with nine K’s and just four hits.
Lynn hopes to make it three in a row, as he looks to get his first career win against Kansas City. Lynn is winless with a 5.84 ERA in only two starts lifetime against the Royals. The Cards are 8-2 in their last 10 games at Kauffman Stadium.
St. Louis’ offense, meanwhile, is aiming to recover after a 5-0 loss in their series finale against the Mets on Thursday. The Cards missed the bat of Matt Holliday in that game, as they only managed to get two hits. Holliday should return to the lineup tonight, though, after receiving a day-off. Holliday hit .292 (7-for-24) over the last six games he’s played in. He is .300 (6-for-20) with three doubles in his career against Royals starter Chris Young.
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Betting on the Kansas City Royals
Pitching has come on strong for the Royals of late. And Chris Young wants to sustain the rotation’s hot stretch as he takes on the Cards later tonight. The Royals are 5-1 in their last six home games.
Young, who was put in a starting role in three games so far this season, owns a 3-0 record and a mind-bending 0.94 ERA in two starts and six reliefs this year. In his most recent start, Young gave up just one earned run on four hits in five plus innings in the Royals’ 12-1 crushing of the Yankees on May 15. His fine performance in that game seemed to have rubbed off on his teammates, as the Royals’ starters gave up just five runs in five games dating back to Young’s last outing.
With Kansas City’s prolific offense behind him, Young will step on the mound later tonight hoping to get the run support the likes of Mike Moustakas, Eric Hosmer, and Kendrys Morales often provide. Moustakas and Hosmer have been solid hitters at the No. 2 and No. 3 positions of the batting order, respectively. Moustakas is hitting .342/.396/.503 thus far this season, while Hosmer is .321/.395/.545. Morales, meanwhile, wastes little opportunity to drive those batting in front of him as the cleanup hitter is hitting .294/.349/.463 with four homers and 32 RBIs, tied for fourth most in the MLB.
Writer’s Prediction
St. Louis (-101) wins, 4-3.
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