Kansas City Royals vs. St. Louis Cardinals Prediction 8-12-23 MLB Picks

The St. Louis Cardinals and the Kansas City Royals meet in the finale of their two-game interleague set in MLB action from Kauffman Stadium on Saturday. The Royals drew first blood on Friday, can they complete the two-game sweep? Or will the Cards earn a split? Let’s dive in and find out.

Not In The Cards On Friday

The St. Louis Cardinals definitely made Friday’s game interesting, trailing 9-0 after two innings and cutting the deficit to 3 in the 6th, but ultimately falling short 12-8 in Friday’s loss to Kansas City. The loss dropped the Cardinals to 51-66 on the year, 12 games back in the basement of the NL Central and 9.5 games back in the NL Wild Card race, tied for the second-worst record in the National League. Nolan Arenado leads the Cardinals with 24 home runs, 81 RBIs and 122 hits. Paul Goldschmidt has 121 hits and Willson Contreras has a team-high 24 doubles this season. Lars Nootbaar also has a .286 batting average for the Cards this season. Steven Matz will start for the Cardinals here and is 3-7 with a 3.91 ERA and 93 strikeouts this season.

St. Louis Cardinals Team Facts

• The Cardinals have lost each of their last four games as road favorites.
• The Cardinals have covered the run line in nine of their last 10 road games against the Royals following a loss.
• The Cardinals have trailed after 7 innings in six of their last eight games as favorites.The Cardinals have trailed after 3 innings in three of their last four games as favorites.
• The Cardinals have trailed after 5 innings in three of their last four games as favorites.

Royals Flush St. Louis In Game One

The Kansas City Royals have been playing some of the most surprising baseball in the second half of the season, and another offensive outburst pushed them to another victory on Friday. The win propelled the Royals to 38-80 on the year, now 4 games ahead of Oakland for the worst record in baseball. Bobby Witt Jr. leads the Royals with 126 hits, 21 home runs and 71 RBIs along with a .270 batting average while Salvador Perez is second for the Royals in homers with 18 this season. MJ Melendez also has a team-high 22 doubles but has the dubious distinction of leading KC with 128 strikeouts this season. Cole Ragans will start for Kansas City here and is 3-3 with a 3.86 ERA and 46 strikeouts this season.

Kansas City Royals Team Facts

• The Royals have won each of their last six games as home underdogs.
• The Royals have failed to cover the run line in each of their last eight games as home underdogs against the Cardinals following a win.
• The ‘Inning 1 OVER 0.5 runs’ market has hit in each of the Royals’ last six games against National League opponents.
• The Royals have led after 7 innings in each of their last six games as home underdogs.
• The Royals have led after 3 innings in five of their last six games as home underdogs.

Kansas City Royals Player Prop Facts

• Bobby Witt Jr. ranks 4th in the league in Steals (34) this season.

Matchup/League Facts

• The Kansas City Royals ranks 1st in the league for triples this season (31).
• The Kansas City Royals ranks 29th in the league for on-base percentage this season (.299).
• The St. Louis Cardinals ranks 1st in the league for home runs allowed this season (114).
• The St. Louis Cardinals ranks 29th in the league for opponent batting average this season (.273).

Chris’ Pick

I have to roll with the Royals here. I get it, there’s going to be this stigma when it comes to backing the Royals because of their record and how bad they’ve been for much of the season, but the Royals have been playing some of their best baseball in the last couple of weeks and the Cardinals continue to be arguably MLB’s biggest disappointment this season with all the talent in that roster. Steven Matz, while pitching better lately, is not a pitcher I want to lay this kind of price with on the road. Give me KC here.