MLB Lines – Cards vs Royals
An interleague match-up in middle America – does it get any more “baseball” than that? I think not.
Date/Time: Thursday, June 5 2014, 8:10 pm EST
Venue: Kauffman Stadium, Kansas City MO
St. Louis -115, Kansas City +105
Over/Under: 7.5
Pitching Match-up: Michael Wacha (4-3, 2.45 ERA) vs. Yordano Ventura (2-5, 3.45 ERA)
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This intra-state rivalry takes place amidst the waterfalls of Kansas City’s Kauffman Stadium. The forecast in KC tonight is for rain, so hopefully the aesthetics behind the outfield fence are the only waterfalls we see for the sake of play.
The visiting Cardinals (31-29) roll out one of their prized young starting pitchers for this game, as 22-year old Michael Wacha will take the hill. Though his record is only 4-3, he is besting the good numbers he already set last season with an ERA of 2.45 and a WHIP at a sparkling 1.06. In short, Wacha’s a stud.
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Kansas City (28-31) counters with Yordano Ventura, whose 2-5 record hasn’t been commensurate with his talent largely because of the Royals’s pop-gun offense. Until KC can score runs on a regular basis, Ventura’s win/loss record won’t be an accurate measuring stick.
St. Louis is coming off an extra-innings win over the Royals on Wednesday, but before that the Red Birds were enduring a miserable stretch. A team expected to be among the National League’s elite was 3-7 in their previous 10 ballgames.
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The Cards ran up against a hot team and some strong pitching with the San Francisco Giants, but St. Louis must also get its offense in check if it wants to keep pace with the Giants for the rest of the season. After tonight’s game, the Cardinals then travel to Canada to play a series against the white-hot Toronto Blue Jays.
Clearly, finding their form quickly is vital to staying in the mix in the NL Central. The Cardinals are currently in second place in the division.
The home team needs to mash, and mash soon. There have been some masterful pitching performances in Kansas City, but they’re often being wasted when the batting order cannot produce enough. Outfielder Alex Gordon is leading the team in the sexy offensive categories, but a .282 average, six HRs and 33 RBI is hardly Megan Fox.
Kansas City’s brain trust has apparently made overtures to franchise legend George Brett about returning to the team as a hitting coach; maybe the firebrand former player would do enough to light a fire under the hitter’s rear ends. Something needs to be done because if the Royals’ offense could push runs across consistently, they’d be a great team.
Giving Ventura his credit, St. Louis’s Wacha has been excellent so far this campaign, and with the offensive woes for the home side, it looks like the Cardinals are ripe to grab another win on the road, which should steel their nerve as a tough series against Toronto looms.
If the midwestern clouds co-operate and the field stays dry enough to get the game in, expect Kansas City’s rivals to the east to wash them away on Thursday night in the Show-Me State.
St. Louis 5, Kansas City 1
Take the UNDER
