The St. Louis Cardinals come into this contest riding a 4 - game winning streak. They are 6 – 4 in their last 10 and 26 – 24 overall. They sit at second place in the National League Central, trailing the Chicago Cubs by 3.5 games. On the road, the Cardinals are 15 – 13 this season and 7 – 8 against the American League.
The Kansas City Royals are 21 – 32 this season. After winning 7 out of 8, they are currently riding a 3-game losing streak. They are last place in the American League Central, trailing the Chicago Cubs by 13 games.At home, they are 10 – 13. They have played the National League 16 times this season and have lost 7 of those 17 contests.
Cardinals Look To Relief Pitching To Dominate
The Cardinals will look for a big game from Paul Goldschmidt and rightfully so. He has been unstoppable against the Royals this season. In 3 games against them, he has 4 RBIs, 4 runs. In 10 at bats, he has 3 hits and 4 walks with a .467 OBP. Overall, he has a .428 OBP, 48 hits and a batting average of .304 for the season. The Cardinals as a team are batting with a .328 OBP. They have 204 RBIs, averaging 4.30 runs a contest so far this season.
Austin Gomber who was throughout most of the season was a relief pitcher will get the start at pitcher for the Cardinals this contest. On the season, he has an ERA of 2.37 and a 1.42 WHIP. In 1 game against the Royals this season, he allowed no runs, no hits and 1 walk.
Royals Look To Exploit The New Starting Pitcher For The Royals
Brady Singer will get the start at pitcher for the Royals. For the season, he is 3 -4 in 10 games started. He has a 4.14 ERA and a WHIP of 1.18. In his last 5, he has an ERA of 3.83 ERA with a WHIP of 1.06 over 28.2 innings pitched during this stretch.
Whit Merrifield comes into this contest leading the Royals in batting average, .277, home runs, 9, OBP, .326 and hits, 59. He is second on the team with 29 RBIs, 2 behind Maikel Franco who has 31. As a team, the Royals have an OBP of .309. They are averaging 4 runs a contest to go along with 201 RBIs.
Notable Trends
Trends from Covers.com
- Royals are 2-9 in their last 11 interleague road games.
- Cardinals are 5-0 in their last 5 games vs. a right-handed starter.
- Cardinals are 4-0 in their last 4 road games vs. a right-handed starter.