St. Louis Cardinals Vs Kansas City Royals

This matchup is between the St. Louis Cardinals (26-25) and the Kansas City Royals (22-32). The Cardinals have won 4 of their last 5 games while the Royals have won 2 of their last 5 games. The Kansas City Royals were the victors in the first game series with a 4-1 score against the Cardinals.

The Cardinals are starting Carlos Martinez (RHP), who is 0-2 in 4 starts, pitching an 8.40 ERA, 6.39 FIP, .397 wOBA, K% of 17.7%, BB% of 10.1%, 87.9 MPH average exit velocity, and a 1.19 WHIP in 15 innings pitched.

The Royals are starting Danny Duffy (LHP), who is 3-4 in 10 starts with a 3.05 ERA, 5.07 FIP, .319 wOBA, K% of 24.1%, BB% of 9.7%, 88.8 MPH average exit velocity, and a 1.76 WHIP in 50.1 innings pitched.

The Cardinals are the 23rd best in the Majors in Relieving Pitching (WAR) while the Royals are 16th.

On the hitting side, the Cardinals have a .309 wOBA and a .325 OBP. The Royals have a .305 wOBA and a .307 OBP. The Cardinals have 48 HRs this season while the Royals have 59 HRs.

Carlos Martinez is likely going to play around 3.2 innings and after that, it'll be the reliever's duties to finish the game. The Cardinals relievers currently have a FIP of 4.87, while they are not among the absolute worst in the league it is still down there as it is the 8th worst. Regardless this should be a relatively close game so I'd go with the slight underdog in this one in the Royals.