The Kansas City Royals (49-43) travel to face off against the St. Louis Cardinals (48-42) on Tuesday, July 9th. This game will be played at Busch Stadium in St. Louis and televised on BSMW. Both team’s come into this one having won their previous games. First pitch is set for 6:45 CT.

Royals vs. Cardinals Betting Prediction

• Money Line Prediction: Cardinals (-121)
• Over/Under Prediction: Over 8 Runs

• The Cardinals have won 7 of their last 10 games, indicating strong recent performance.
• In the last 15 games, the Cardinals have scored 4 or more runs in 10 games, showing consistent offensive production.
• The Cardinals have a home record of 24-18, demonstrating a solid performance at home.
• The Royals have a losing record on the road at 18-25, indicating struggles away from home.
• The Cardinals have won their last 2 games, suggesting positive momentum going into the matchup.

Royals vs Cardinals

The Royals Are Coming Off A Win

Heading into their last game vs. the Rockies, the Royals closed out the series with a 10-1 win. Leading up to the game, they were the heavy favorite at -172. Offensively, the Royals scored their 10 runs on 12 hits and only hit three home runs.

Brady Singer put together a good start for the Royals, going seven innings and giving up just one earned run, and picking up the win. Kansas City’s offense was carried by Bobby Witt Jr., who went 3/5 with a homer and three RBIs.

Kansas City is 31-18 at home but just 18-25 on the road. They have a 49-43 overall record, which puts them 3rd in the AL Central, 8.5 games behind the Guardians. The Royals have a 16-10 record against divisional opponents this season.

When the Royals win, they do so by an average of +3.8 runs per game, and their run line record is 51-41. As underdogs, they have a 31-21 run line record. In games with over/under lines of 8 runs or more, their O/U record is 9-9-2.

Michael Wacha Gets The Start For The Royals

Michael Wacha is looking to build off his last outing, where he faced off against the Rays and picked up the win. In that July 3rd outing, he went 6 innings and gave up just one earned run. Looking at his overall numbers, Wacha has made 15 starts, and his record for the season is 5-6. The right-hander has an ERA of 3.73 and a WHIP of 1.22. For the year, he has allowed 8 home runs. Wacha’s ERA at home is 4.35, compared to 3.94 on the road. So far, he has turned in seven quality starts.

Royals Offense Breakdown

So far this season, the Royals are averaging 4.5 runs per game, which is 13th in the league. At home, they have been even better, putting up 5.2 runs per contest. As a team, the Royals are batting .246, which is 10th in the league, and are one of the best teams in the league at avoiding strikeouts. Kansas City’s team on-base percentage, slugging percentage, and OPS are all right around league average.

Heading into the game, Bobby Witt Jr. is the team’s leader in both home runs and RBIs, and he is batting .324 for the season. Witt Jr. has been on fire of late, going 15/28 in his last seven games with three homers and eight RBIs. Salvador Perez has also been a big power threat for the Royals, as he is 2nd on the team with 14 homers and 55 RBIs.

The Cardinals Are Coming Off A Win

The Cardinals’s offense was hot right out of the gates in their most recent game vs. the Nationals, closing out their series with a 6-0 win. After going on to score two more runs in the 2nd inning, the Cardinals were the +100 underdog on the money line. St. Louis really broke things open with a 2-run 8th inning. Looking at the betting lines going into the game, the Cardinals were the slight underdog at +100.

Miles Mikolas put together a good start for the Cardinals, going 6 1/3 innings, and didn’t give up a run. He also issued just three hits and issued only one walk. Alec Burleson was hot at the plate, going 2/5 with a homer and three RBIs.

St. Louis is 48-42 overall and has won two straight games, closing out their series vs. the Nationals with three straight wins. They are 4.5 games behind the Brewers for the NL Central lead. The Cardinals have an overall series record of 16-11-2 and have won two straight series.

On the run line, the Cardinals are 24-18 at home and 22-26 on the road. As underdogs, they are 29-17 on the run line, but as favorites, they are 17-27. Their games have averaged 8.6 runs per game this season, resulting in an over/under record of 41-46. When the O/U line is set at 8 runs, their O/U record is 7-9-1.

Andre Pallante Gets The Start For The Cardinals

Right-hander Andre Pallante gets the start for the Cardinals today as he faces the Royals at home. Pallante has made 16 appearances this year and has a record of 4-3 with a 4.00 ERA. In his seven starts, he has a batting average allowed of .249 and has turned in two quality starts. Pallante most recently pitched on July 4th, where he went seven innings, giving up one earned run on four hits. He finished with a no-decision in that outing. Before that, he had won two straight starts. So far, he has been much better at home, coming in with a 2.06 ERA compared to 4.54 on the road.

Cardinals Offense Breakdown

The Cardinals have been one of the league’s worst home run-hitting teams this season and are also below average in terms of runs scored. As a team, they are averaging 4.1 runs per game, which is 21st in the league. Their batting average of .244 is 12th in the league, and they have been striking out at an average rate so far this season.

St. Louis’ top power hitters this season have been Alec Burleson and Nolan Gorman, who have 14 and 17 homers, respectively. However, Gorman is batting just .210 this season. The team’s current leader in RBIs is Burleson, who has driven in 45 runs while batting .283. Over his last six games, Willson Contreras has three homers and eight RBIs while batting .292.

Royals vs Cardinals Prediction

Given the payout, we like the Cardinals to pick up a win at home over the Royals. The money line for the Cardinals is sitting at -121, and we have them winning this one by a final score of 6-5.

Looking at the starting pitchers, we have Michael Wacha finishing with five strikeouts, which is the eighth-worst among starters today. As for Andre Pallante, he is projected to finish with just four strikeouts, which is the second-worst among starters.

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All odds are courtesy of Action247 Sportsbook. Good luck!!

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* All odds are provided by Action247 Sportsbook and all odds subject to change.**All views expressed are my own. My picks are my own and are not a guarantee, bet at your own risk.Action247 does not warrant the accuracy of completeness of the information, text, graphics, links or other items contained within these post.