Cardinals vs. Royals Prediction 9/23/20

St. Louis Cardinals (27-25) vs. Kansas City Royals (22-33)

When: 8 p.m., Wednesday, September 23

Where: Kauffman Stadium, Kansas City, Mo.

Starting Pitchers: Carlos Martinez (0-2, 8.40 ERA, 2.07 WHIP) vs. Danny Duffy (3-4, 5.01 ERA, 1.31 WHIP)

Moneyline: STL -120/KC +110 (BetAnySports – The best odds online! Lay only -105 on sides and totals!)

Runline: Cardinals -1.5/Royals +1.5

Total: 9

Hanging By a Thread

This is where St. Louis absolutely has to make its move. The Cardinals are currently sitting a game ahead of both the Brewers and the Reds for the NL Central’s second bid to the playoffs, and holding that position means the world to the Cardinals. First, holding second place would mean the Cardinals would avoid the Dodgers in the three-game play-in series, as they’d either face another second-place team or the weakest division winner. Facing the Cubs, Braves, or Padres would be far from easy, but it’s a much better scenario than having to win two out of three in Los Angeles.

But there’s another reason St. Louis needs wins: the COVID infections from last month could really come back to haunt the Cardinals if they can’t put space between themselves and the Reds and Brewers. St. Louis has played four fewer games than Cincinnati, which is down to its final four games of the year. The Cardinals are currently set to play 58 games to 60 for the Reds and Brewers. If St. Louis finishes at least 1.5 games ahead of both, the Cardinals would be locked into their seed and could set their rotation for the playoffs. But if either team is within one game of the Cardinals, St. Louis would have to go to Detroit on Monday and play a doubleheader to make up the two missed games, which would completely mess up their rotation. In other words, the pressure is really on for the Cardinals.

Playing Spoiler

Kansas City’s got nothing going for them in this game except pride. The Royals can’t make the playoffs or finish with a winning record, and at this point, they’re going to be hard-pressed to avoid finishing last in the AL Central. But the Royals could really give their fans a nice gift if they can dent the Cardinals’ postseason hopes. Royals fans feel constantly looked down upon throughout the state of Missouri, where most people profess to be fans of St. Louis in baseball and Kansas City in football. The Royals don’t have a crowd to play for, but if they can drum up some motivation to play for their fans who are watching on television, they could give themselves a reason to care about an otherwise meaningless game from their perspective.

Back and Forth

It’s been a weird series between St. Louis and Kansas City this year, as the I-70 series has seen the teams go back and forth in alternating wins with each other. There also hasn’t been much constant between the games, as the past two games saw St. Louis cruise to a 5-0 win on Tuesday after Kansas City came back to earn a 4-1 win on Monday. The only real constant has been that when the Cardinals score five runs or more, they’ve won. When they don’t, the Royals have come out ahead.

Judging by the numbers of the two pitchers, that gives St. Louis the ever-so-slight edge. For Kansas City, the goal will be to simply get the bats going, as the Royals have been shut out in two of their past four games. Kansas City reminds me of a lot of soccer betting at the moment because, in five of the Royals’ past nine games, one team has been shut out.

Betting Trends

• The Cardinals have won five of their past six.
• The Cardinals have won four of their past five road games.
• The Cardinals are 1-6 in their past seven road games against a left-handed starter.
• The Royals are 4-1 in their past five home games.
• The Royals are 5-1 in their past six interleague home games.
• The under is 4-0 in the Royals’ past four games.
• The under is 5-1 in the Cardinals’ past six road games.
• The Cardinals have won nine of the last 12 meetings with the Royals.
• The under has hit in four consecutive meetings in Kansas City.

Weather Report

A six-mile an hour breeze is set to blow toward the fountains in left-center, with temperatures at a comfortable 70 degrees at the first pitch.

Dan’s Pick

The Cardinals don’t have the right pitching matchup on the mound, given that Martinez has been blown up for three earned runs or more in three of his four starts and hasn’t made it to the fifth inning even once in 2020. It’s tough to take a team that doesn’t have much to play for, especially against one that’s been playing relatively well as of late. However, the reality is that St. Louis doesn’t have much success against lefties, and Kansas City still has a chance to give its fans a gift in an otherwise lost season.

I’ll take the live dog in this one and go for the Royals. Bet this week’s MLB picks FREE by taking advantage of a 100% real cash bonus on your first deposit of $100 to $500 at Betnow Sports!