MLB Betting – AL, NL Powers Collide as Royals Meet Cards

Kansas City Royals (+132) at St. Louis Cardinals (-142, 7 o/u)

The St. Louis Cardinals (60-34, 33-12 Home) and Kansas City Royals (57-36, 25-19 Away) have the two best records in the Majors. Lucky for MLB fans, they’ll meet tonight at Busch Stadium (7:15 PM Eastern) in a rescheduled game originally set to be played on June 14.

The Royals lead the American League and hold a large 7.5-game lead over the Minnesota Twins in the AL Central. They’ve stayed hot after the All-Star Break, taking five of seven overall, including two of three from another NL power, Pittsburgh, in their last series.

Kansas City will send veteran Chris Young (8-5, 3.03 ERA) to the hill tonight; Young has been reliable – if not spectacular – this season, and is coming off a five-inning, three-hit, two-run performance against the White Sox (helping the Royals to a 4-2 win).

After limiting the light-hitting Chi-Sox, Young will be facing a much stiffer test tonight in the form of the Cardinals. St. Louis has the best record in the Majors and are six games above the Pirates in the NL Central. St. Louis has also won four of its last five games and two straight (over the White Sox) since the mid-summer hiatus.

John Lackey (8-5, 2.90 ERA) will get the start tonight and boasts very similar numbers to the Royals’ Young. The 6’6 righty looked a bit vulnerable in his last outing, giving up ten hits over seven innings to the Mets. But he was able to shut down New York when it mattered and surrendered just one earned run in the Cards’ 10-2 victory.

Tonight’s game marks the start of an 11-game homestand for St. Louis, who have been almost unbeatable at Busch Stadium. But the team knows that the Royals – who are coming off a World Series appearance and look primed for another deep October run – are extremely dangerous, home or away.

“You just got to keep grinding out at-bats, making pitches, and trying to make sure that they don’t have a huge inning. We’ve got guys who know how to do that, and it makes it fun around here,” said Cardinal pitcher Lance Lynn.

St. Louis dropped the first two of the season to their in-state rivals, but have rebounded by winning three straight, including the last two (which were also at Busch). With the pitching matchup looking like a wash, expect the Cardinals – who have the best home record in the bigs – to start their homestand with a W.

Pick: Cardinals (-142).

(Photo credit: Keith Allison (flickr) [https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/2.0/legalcode]. Photo may appear cropped.)