St. Louis Cardinals vs Kansas City Royals Prediction, 9/21/2020 MLB Pick, Tips and Odds

Game: St. Louis Cardinals vs Kansas City Royals

Date: Monday, September 21, 2020

Location: Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City, MO

TV: FSKC/FSMW

Odds/Point Spread: Cardinals (-145) Royals (+134)

Matt Carpenter and the St. Louis Cardinals (26-24, 2nd in NL Central) are headed to Kauffman Stadium on Monday where they'll meet the Kansas City Royals (21-32, 5th in AL Central). The Cardinals open this game at -145 while the Royals are coming in at +134. The O/U opens at 9. The starting pitchers will be Adam Wainwright and Carlos Hernandez.

Key St. Louis Cardinals Injuries

9/20/2020 Dakota Hudson SP Forearm Out for the season
9/20/2020 John Gant RP Groin Probable for Sep 21
9/16/2020 Dexter Fowler RF Not Injury Related Expected to be out until at least Sep 24
9/14/2020 Austin Dean LF Elbow Expected to be out until at least Sep 24
9/11/2020 Giovanny Gallegos RP Groin Expected to be out until at least Sep 21
9/4/2020 Kodi Whitley RP Elbow Expected to be out until at least Sep 24
8/31/2020 Ricardo Sanchez RP Elbow Out for the season
8/11/2020 Miles Mikolas SP Forearm Out for the season
6/28/2020 John Brebbia RP Elbow Out for the season

Key Kansas City Royals Injuries

9/20/2020 Glenn Sparkman RP Forearm Expected to be out until at least Sep 20
9/16/2020 Matt Harvey SP Lat Out for the season
9/15/2020 Jorge Soler DH Oblique Expected to be out until at least Sep 21
9/15/2020 Mike Montgomery SP Lat Expected to be out until at least Sep 21
9/2/2020 Ian Kennedy RP Calf Out for the season
8/16/2020 Daniel Tillo RP Elbow Out for the season
8/15/2020 Foster Griffin RP Elbow Out for the season
8/10/2020 Franchy Cordero RF Wrist Expected to be out until at least Sep 24

Useful Pitching Statistics

The Cardinals have a 26-24 overall record this season. Wainwright (167-96 career win-loss mark) sits with a FIP of 3.47 and he has gone up against 8,949 opposing hitters in the major leagues. His ERA is 3.38 (809 earned runs allowed) and his WHIP is 1.224. He has given up 2,052 hits (8.6 hits per nine innings) and has 588 free passes. Wainwright has taken the mound for 2,156 innings and has tallied 1,820 punchouts so far in his career. The bullpen has an earned run average of 4.24 and they have given up 127 base hits on the year. Teams are hitting .178 against the bullpen and they've struck out 166 hitters and walked 87 batters. As a team, St. Louis allows 7.1 hits per nine innings while striking out 8.6 batters per nine innings. They are 10th in the league in team earned run average at 4. The Cardinals pitchers collectively have given up 315 base hits and 177 earned runs. They have allowed 61 home runs this season, ranking them 21st in the league. St. Louis as a pitching staff has walked 177 batters and struck out 380. They have walked 4 men per 9 innings while striking out 8.6 per 9. They have a team WHIP of 1.24 and their FIP as a unit is 4.78.

Related: How to Bet Parlays

Hitting Statistics

As a team St. Louis is hitting .237, good for 21st in the league. The Cardinals hold a .377 team slugging percentage and an on-base percentage of .328, which is good for 12th in baseball. They rank 27th in MLB with 7.1 hits per game. Matt Carpenter is hitting .182 with an on-base percentage of .322. He has 22 hits this season in 121 at bats with 22 runs batted in. He has a slugging percentage of .298 and an OPS+ of 71. Kolten Wong is hitting .257 this year and he has an on-base percentage of .341. He has totaled 39 hits and he has driven in 13 men in 152 at bats. His OPS+ is 82 while his slugging percentage is at .316. The Cardinals have 349 hits, including 61 doubles and 46 home runs. St. Louis has walked 176 times so far this season and they have struck out 387 times as a unit. They have left 303 men on base and have a team OPS of .705. They score 4.31 runs per contest and have scored a total of 211 runs this year.

Useful Pitching Statistics

Kansas City has a 21-32 overall mark this year. The bullpen has an earned run average of 4.09 and they have given up 200 base hits on the year. Teams are hitting .219 against the Royals bullpen. Their relievers have struck out 233 batters and walked 98 opposing hitters. As a team, Kansas City allows 8.8 hits per nine innings while striking out 8.9 batters per nine innings. They are 15th in the league in team earned run average at 4.44. The Royals pitchers as a team have surrendered 436 base knocks and 220 earned runs this season. They have given up 71 home runs this year, which ranks 11th in Major League Baseball. Kansas City as a staff has walked 186 hitters and struck out 440 batters. They give up a walk 3.8 times per 9 innings while they strike out 8.9 per 9. Their team WHIP is 1.40 while their FIP as a staff is 4.72.

Hitting Statistics

As a team, they are batting .243, good for 17th in the league. The Royals hold a .397 team slugging percentage and an on-base percentage of .309, which is good for 26th in baseball. They rank 14th in MLB with 8.1 hits per contest. Alex Gordon comes into this matchup batting .224 with an OBP of .311. He has 32 hits this year along with 10 RBI in 143 AB's. He maintains a slugging percentage of .336 with an OPS+ of 77. Whit Merrifield is hitting .277 this season and he has an OBP of .326. He has collected 59 hits in 213 at bats while driving in 29 runs. He has an OPS+ of 110 and a slugging percentage of .455. The Royals as a unit have 421 base hits, including 84 doubles and 58 homers. Kansas City has walked 152 times this year and they have struck out on 467 occasions. They have had 348 men left on base and have an OPS of .706. They have scored 4.08 runs per game and totaled 212 runs this season.

Who will win tonight's Cardinals/Royals MLB game against the spread?

Parlays Pundit's Pick: Take the Royals (+134) and over 9 runs

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