St. Louis takes on Kansas City following Flaherty's strong outing
St. Louis Cardinals (62-55, second in the NL Central) vs. Kansas City Royals (43-77, fourth in the NL Central)
Kansas City, Kansas; Wednesday, 8:15 p.m. EDT
PITCHING PROBABLES: Cardinals: Dakota Hudson (10-6, 4.01 ERA) Royals: Brad Keller (7-12, 4.09 ERA)
BOTTOM LINE: St. Louis heads into the matchup after a strong showing by Jack Flaherty. Flaherty pitched seven innings, surrendering zero runs on three hits with seven strikeouts against Kansas City.
The Royals are 23-36 in home games. Kansas City has hit 125 home runs as a team this season. Jorge Soler leads the club with 35, averaging one every 12.4 at-bats.
The Cardinals are 28-32 on the road. The St. Louis pitching staff owns a combined team ERA of 4.05, Adam Wainwright leads the staff with a mark of 4.28. The Cardinals won the last meeting 2-0. Jack Flaherty notched his sixth victory and Tommy Edman went 1-for-4 with an RBI for St. Louis. Glenn Sparkman registered his eighth loss for Kansas City.
TOP PERFORMERS: Soler leads the Royals with 35 home runs and has 87 RBIs. Hunter Dozier is 12-for-41 with two doubles, two triples, six home runs and nine RBIs over the last 10 games for Kansas City.
Paul Goldschmidt leads the Cardinals with 26 home runs home runs and is slugging .468. Marcell Ozuna is 6-for-29 with a double, two home runs and three RBIs over the last 10 games for St. Louis.
LAST 10 GAMES: Royals: 3-7, .217 batting average, 5.12 ERA, outscored by three runs
Cardinals: 5-5, .245 batting average, 3.68 ERA
Royals Injuries: Trevor Oaks: (hip), Jesse Hahn: (elbow), Danny Duffy: (hamstring), Adalberto Mondesi: (shoulder), Salvador Perez: (elbow), Cam Gallagher: (oblique).
Cardinals Injuries: Jordan Hicks: (elbow), Tony Cingrani: (shoulder), Brett Cecil: (wrist/forearm), Tyler O'Neill: (wrist), Jose Martinez: (shoulder).
