The Show-Me Series returns in early-season form as the Kansas City Royals and St. Louis Cardinals meet at 7:45 p.m. ET on Tuesday. Daniel Lynch, a 6-foot-6 southpaw, will go on the mound against Dakota Hudson of the Cardinals.
The Cardinals are tied at 2-1 with the Chicago Cubs atop the NL Central standings after the season’s first series. St. Louis took two of three from the Pirates. The Royals (2-2) are in a muddied-up AL Central with four teams tied and a half-game back. Kansas City split a series with Cleveland.
The Cardinals as one-run favorites with an over/under of 8.5 as of this writing.
St. Louis Cardinals Betting Preview: Keep the bats rolling
St. Louis has gotten off to a great start offensively, scoring 6.33 runs per game which is the third-best mark in baseball this far.
They have the top on-base plus slugging percentage at .846. Nolan Arenado has two of the team’s five home runs so far. He’s also 6 for 12 with three doubles, four runs scored, and seven RBIs.
Arenado is one of a number of right-handed bats, including Paul Goldschmidt, Harrison Bader, Tyler O’Neill, and Yadier Molina, who will get their cracks at jumping on Lynch.
Pitching-wise, the team has been solid with runners on base. They are 23rd in walks-hits-per innings pitched with a 1.44 clip, yet their ERA of 3.67 is a testament to stranding runners.
Hudson has appeared in 10 games since 2019, in part due to the COVID-19-shortened season. But just two of those came a season ago. For his career, he has a 3.14 ERA with a 24-10 record. He’s held the Royals to three runs and a .646 OPS in three appearances lifetime against Kansas City.
Kansas City Royals Betting Preview: Need for speed
Stats are a little inflated due to allowing 27 runs over the last two games of the series, but Kansas City’s pitching was on point to start the season. In the two wins, the staff allowed one run. With zero errors, their defense is one of the best in baseball.
Offensively though, the Royals are one of the best baserunning teams with four stolen bases, ranking second in the season. Just one home run is the worst mark in baseball. Whit Merrifield, Adalberto Mondesi, Bobby Witt Jr., and Michael A. Taylor are all bringing quickness to the attack.
Lynch struggled through his first 15 starts with a 5.69 ERA and gave up nine home runs in 68 innings pitched.
Betting Prediction
The Cardinals are 19-7 over the last 26 games of the series. The over is 5-2-1 in the last eight games when these teams meet in St. Louis. So far, 74% of the bets are on the Cardinals’ moneyline, and 51% of money is on the under.
This season the Royals are 2-2 against the moneyline, 1-3 against the spread, and 2-2 on over/unders. St. Louis is 2-1 on moneylines, against the spread, and 2-0-1 on over/unders.
We’re going with the Cardinals here to cover the one run and the over hitting.
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