Cards strive for split against Royals
Kansas City’s Kendrys Morales cannot be stopped. On the flip side, the Cardinals find themselves halted every time a home game pops up.
St. Louis’ despondent season at Busch Stadium continued last night. The Royals prevailed in extras, 3-2, dropping Matheny’s club to a rather inexplicable 15-22 in the Gateway City. At 7:15 p.m. ET this evening, the interleague series will come to a close. Oddsmakers at online sports book Bovada.lv favor the Redbirds by a slight margin, whereas Kansas City represents a +145 underdog.
Given the rate at which Morales is spraying the ball, however, he could singlehandedly swing the balance in the visiting team’s favor. The 33-year-old designated hitter boasts 13 base knocks in the past five contests, not to mention a .386 average in June. He even patrolled the outfield on Wednesday for the first time since 2008.
In several hours, Morales will attempt to provide ample offensive support for Chris Young, who’s coming off an awful showing vs. the Astros. The veteran righty got shellacked for seven hits and seven runs in that outing, which marked his shortest appearance in nearly two seasons. He’s just 1-4 with a 3.74 ERA in seven career turns against St. Louis.
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Matheny responds with a motivated Mike Leake. The Arizona State product logged only 3 1/3 innings during a weekend loss at Seattle, giving up five runs. He’ll have to venture deep into the proceedings, too, considering the Cards went through every reliever roughly 11 hours ago. With or without Stephen Piscotty (ankle), though, the affair in question seems destined to take on an offensive bent.
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