Tuesday’s MLB slate looks totally loaded with every single team taking the field throughout the afternoon and evening. As the later portion of the schedule approaches around 8 p.m. EST, the matchup between the St. Louis Cardinals and Kansas City Royals brings plenty of intrigue to the table as one of the better contests of the day.
Here’s a Cardinals vs. Royals prediction and pick for the outing, which kicks off a three-game series on Tuesday.
Cardinals vs. Royals prediction, preview
St. Louis Cardinals
The Cardinals continue to hold their own in a competitive NL Central, still sitting second place in the division at 33-26. The Cards are 6-4 across their last 10 games, and their 19-8 home record remains one of the better marks across the MLB. They are coming off a series they lost to the Texas Rangers 1-2, so they look to bounce back here.
The offense keeps firing this season with a top-six average and OBP, while their overall OPS sits 11th in the league. The Cardinals have also scored the 10th-most runs to this point despite falling all the way to 25th in home runs. Brendan Donovan continues to perform as the Cards’ best player with the team lead in hits, while Lars Nootbar and Masyn Winn are key contributors as well. William Contreras does lead the team with 31 RBIs, but it would be nice to see him reach base a bit more. The same goes for Nolan Arenado, who’s in the midst of an arguably career-worst season.
Kansas City Royals
The Royals are 31-29 on the campaign and just fell to fourth in the AL Central standings. They’re 4-6 over their last 10 games and have really struggled to put runs on the board lately after going 1-2 against the Detroit Tigers in their last series.
Kansas City falls middle-of-the-pack in team batting average at 14th, but their OBP and SLG marks both fall 26th in the MLB. The team also sits a very low 28th in runs scored, so it’s honestly stunning they’re even over the .500 mark at the moment. Maikel Garcia and Bobby Witt Jr. are top-two on the team not only in total hits, but in all three slash line stats and OPS. Vinnie Pasquantino maintains the team lead in home runs and RBIs, but he only reaches base at a .310 rate. The most notable trend, though? Salvador Perez is still slumping with a .229/.268/.353 slash line, the worst marks of his storied career.
Cardinals vs. Royals pick, best bet
Michael Lorenzen and Andre Pallante go head-to-head in tonight’s starter battle. Lorenzen, a longtime veteran righty, throws to the tune of a 4.33 ERA, 1.40 WHIP, and 52 strikeouts across 62.1 innings for the Royals this season. As for Pallante, his marks aren’t much better with a 4.23 ERA, 1.36 WHIP, and 642 punchouts in 61.2 innings of work. Both are average pitchers at best this season, so there’s not much to fear for either lineup.
The Cardinals are favored to win at home tonight with -155 odds on the Moneyline, while the Royals have +130 odds to win outright. The run total sits at a combined nine runs.
I do quite like the Cardinals to cover the -1.5 run line at +136 odds. If they had an ace on the mound tonight, I’d like this game line even more, but their offense still looks far superior to that of the Royals, who have scored three or fewer runs in four of their last five games. Since St. Louis does reach base plenty and drive those runners in, I think it’s safe to grab the plus odds here and bank on them to win by at least two runs on Tuesday night.
Best bet: STL Cardinals -1.5 (+136)
Click the odds to tail!
