St. Louis Cardinals (59-57, second in the NL Central) vs. Kansas City Royals (64-52, third in the AL Central)
Kansas City, Missouri; Friday, 8:10 p.m. EDT
PITCHING PROBABLES: Cardinals: Miles Mikolas (8-9, 5.12 ERA, 1.27 WHIP, 86 strikeouts); Royals: Michael Lorenzen (5-6, 3.69 ERA, 1.28 WHIP, 80 strikeouts)
BETMGM SPORTSBOOK: LINE Royals -118, Cardinals -102; over/under is 9 runs
BOTTOM LINE: The Kansas City Royals host the St. Louis Cardinals on Friday to open a two-game series.
Kansas City has gone 37-24 at home and 64-52 overall. The Royals have a 24-10 record in games when they hit at least two home runs.
St. Louis is 28-30 on the road and 59-57 overall. The Cardinals have gone 20-11 in games when they hit at least two home runs.
Friday's game is the third time these teams square off this season.
TOP PERFORMERS: Bobby Witt Jr. has 33 doubles, 10 triples, 22 home runs and 84 RBI for the Royals. Vinnie Pasquantino is 16-for-44 with two doubles, six home runs and 17 RBI over the last 10 games.
Alec Burleson has 15 doubles and 19 home runs for the Cardinals. Nolan Arenado is 15-for-38 with three doubles over the past 10 games.
LAST 10 GAMES: Royals: 7-3, .277 batting average, 3.36 ERA, outscored opponents by 23 runs
Cardinals: 5-5, .253 batting average, 4.03 ERA, outscored opponents by five runs
INJURIES: Royals: John Schreiber: 15-Day IL (knee), Dan Altavilla: 60-Day IL (oblique), Josh Taylor: 60-Day IL (biceps), Kyle Wright: 60-Day IL (shoulder)
Cardinals: Mike Siani: 10-Day IL (oblique), Lance Lynn: 15-Day IL (knee), Steven Matz: 60-Day IL (back), Keynan Middleton: 60-Day IL (forearm), Riley O'Brien: 60-Day IL (forearm), Drew Rom: 60-Day IL (biceps)
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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.
